Devil's Crown
by PersephoneQ
Summary: Gilbert and Ludwig are sons of the devil, Germania. But when Germania chooses Ludwig as a successor, Gilbert steals the crown and drops it somewhere on Earth. And Matthew finds it. What would you ask for if the devil owed you a favor?
1. Chapter 1 Devil in the Detail

Chapter 1: Devil in the detail

The water was pure white and soothing to the skin, mixing in with the drops of white, warming liquid falling down from the pitch black sky. The air was clear and free of the smell of smoke and alley scum usually accustomed to large cities like this. Trees ambushed the area like soldiers of war, all varying shades of green, red, orange, or yellow. There wasn't one area void of color, dousing the small boy in the middle of it all in a sea of life. Though, really, it was devoid of any. The only thing moving was Matthew as his chest moved up and down with his breathing. Matthew sighed when he remembered this, knowing that was the only thing he couldn't change here.

It wasn't often that Matthew came here nowadays. After all, grown men didn't live in fantasy worlds. They lived in their second story homes and glass-encased offices. Of course, Matthew had never been one for stereotypes. As a child, it had been his hobby to contradict them all.

But now he was a member of the elite, adult, human society, and was expected to act as one while there. So it was that Matthew retreated to this sanctum of a dreamland when things get tough.

Like now, at his brothers "party", sitting in the corner of the loud and crowded room. It seemed every member of the group had already forgotten that the party had actually been for him, on his 21 birthday. He had shrugged it off at the time, having convinced himself that he was used to it.

He got up from the small, uncomfortable chair and headed to the only room he could really find solace.

Up the spiral staircase, take a right, and the last door to the left. He grabbed a ladder from under the stairwell and carried in to right hand corner. He climbed it and felt around the plaster, looking for the small crack he always left. Suddenly, he felt the edge of the opening knick his finger and he pulled his hand back and into his mouth. Bingo. There were hidden doors and entrances like this all over the house, as it was built during WW2 and such had been needed. All led to different hiding rooms, but this one his favorite.

It was the piano room.

He looked around once more, having always been cautious and even a little paranoid about the room, he closed the hatch and locked himself in the room. Smiling fondly at the piano, he sat on the bench and ran his hands over the keys, mind immediately taking his hands to the keys of a tune from days past. His eyes closed in euphoria as he reveled in the sound of the beautiful, reminiscent music.

Euphoria.

At the word that echoed in his head after having been uttered, even mentally, he was instantly transferred to the mystical, yet imaginary land he had created for himself as a kid. He smiled when the sounds of the piano filled the air like bird songs and ran straight to the field. He didn't know why, but he could change everything in this world with only a single touch. Everything except himself.

He was always the same age that he was when he found this paradise and he was always wearing the same long dress type outfit. It was usually empty, but on that day, something changed.

As Matthew lay there, both cold and hot, enjoying the snow and the blazing sun in the fields of clean grass, the "sun" blinked. Twice. Then, it slowly faded, eventually turning a dark red. The air, once calm, had began wildly wiping at the trees, grass, and toddler, who's eyes shot open at the sudden change. That was odd. He hadn't asked for this. Slowly, the suns light dyed everything a deep red and the snow turned into tears of hot blood tearing through the sky like acid rain. Matthew jumped up, shielded himself from the liquid heat, and stuck his hand in the lake.

"Stop! Go back!" he said.

"Heh, what a weird kid. Talking to water like it'll just do what you say- Are you crazy? And where are we even?", a slithering, chilling voice spoke.

Matthew turned around and what he saw was enough to knock the wind out of him.

A tall man surrounded by black flames in a white pinstriped suit smirked evilly down at the six year old. His hair was bright white, as was his skin, and his eyes were blood red, which sent shivers down Matthew's spine. His smirk spread at the terrified look on the boys face, revealing razor sharp teeth and a blue tongue.

So distracted were the two that they didn't notice the trees regain movement and began slithering their branches towards the demonly being.

Matthew trudged up all the courage in his small body and stood tall, opening his mouth to question the strange, terrifying man, but was interrupted when the man suddenly appeared directly in front of him and clasped his dark aura-surrounded hand down on his head.

Then he felt it.

To explain it in human terms, it was black. Not black in color, really, more in feeling. If that makes any sense. A blackness unaccustomed to this world suddenly encompassed his very mind and being. It sifted through his memories, thoughts, and feeling like one would skim a book. His bones and nerves were wrapped around and pondered over, as if it were trying to understand their meaning and being.

Then it touched his heart.

It wrapped around it like a snake and squeezed any courage or hope out of him, leaving him a terrified shell of pity.

The man bent down to his height, snapping his fingers in front of his pale and quivering face. "Kid? Kid, can you hear me?", he said. No, not said, telepathed. As in mentally spoke to him.

Matthew nodded. The man smirked triumphantly.

"Good. Now, I need you to do something for me."

The boy nodded again.

The man put his hands to his own chest, then Matthews blue-purple eyes watched the hands slowly sink into it. The man winced as he searched through his own body (or whatever it was. Maybe it was just a soul) for whatever it was he was looking for. Then, suddenly he perked up, smiling, pleased with himself for having found it as he slowly brought it back out of his body (or soul). When he brought it out to the open, Matthew saw it was a crown. Or it was for a minute

The crown itself seemed to be made entirely of the blackness currently in his being and surrounding the tall man's body. It swirled and changed shape constantly. Sometimes it was a kings crown, circular and pointed on one end with a small, color-changing jewel on it. Then it was a pocket watch, then a marble, then a staff.

The man smirked at the object, muttering things to himself (out loud this time) while he clasped the object in his hands and squeezed. A cracking sound was heard, and for some reason, Matthew winced. The man kept squishing the shape shifting object until, when he removed his hand, Matthew saw nothing but dust.

The man pulled out a locket from his pocket. It was a large (about the size of the lid on mouth wash) white circle with small ribbon diving in and out around the edges. In the middle was kept a small jewel, blood red and heart shaped. The man opened it and poured the dust into it, the closed the lid. The aura around one of his fingers turned blue suddenly and he pushed it against the edges of the lock, where it opened. He whispered words to it, then the finger was removed and the blue aura it held disappeared.

The man moved to give the locket to the boy, but was stopped by the branches that had slowly snaked their way to the monster who invaded their home and harassed and terrified their master. They wrapped around his ankles, waist, and hands, pulling him towards the boiling hot pond.

Matthew, feeling the blackness in him reseed, jumped to help the mysterious intruder.

The man growled and shouted words in an unknown language, his aura turning blue, red, green, purple, every color on the spectrum, all to no avail. As one branch was burned, frozen, vanished, or what-have-you, another one appeared, an unending onslaught of bark encrusted limbs and leaves. He could feel the heat radiating behind him, causing him to sweat and close his eyes to the pain he would inevitably feel soon. He wouldn't die, but that didn't mean he was immune to pain. That was his father. And now his brother.

Then, they stopped.

The man opened one eye, then the other. And frankly, what he saw would have intrigued the devil himself.

The boy was petting the branches, calming them, and telling them to leave the man alone in a small, quiet voice. He smiled at the branches as they unraveled themselves from his frame and wrapped themselves around the boy's. The ends came up and tickled his face, almost like a dog would lick the face of it's owner affectionately, and he made a bell-like giggle.

As the man watched on in awe, the boy put his hand in the boiling water, not even flinching.

"Calm down. This man is fine. I will deal with him."

The water immediately dropped temperature, as if trying to soothe the burn it had undoubtedly caused him.

"It's fine. Don't worry. I love you anyways."

The boy smiled and was quiet for a bit before laughing. "I agree!"

Having regained control of his tongue, he looked questioningly at the boy. "Agree with what?"  
>The boy sent him a slightly disappointed look. "You couldn't hear, could you?"<p>

When the man nodded, the boy sighed and waved him over. "Stick your hand in the water."

The man gave him a bewildered look, knowing that if he did, it would just heat up and burn him again. The boy sighed again, then stuck his hand in as well. "Don't worry. He won't burn you if I'm here."

"He?", the man thought to himself. Hesitantly, the man stuck his hand in the water. Suddenly a small, timid voice entered his mind.

"B-but, master, I don't think this the best idea...What if he-"

"Tori, you, like, totally gotta take a chill pill! If Mattie says the freaks cool, then he's cool!"

"Feliks! You shouldn't be so rude! It is impolite to call master by his name!"

The man sweat dropped, having noticed that the smaller, more timid voice and completely neglected to mention how rude it was to call him a freak.

"Boys, boys, calm down! Toris, I've told you before that it was fine to call me by name, I even prefer it. Feliks, um, thanks? For defending me and trusting me, I mean. But it is just as rude to call this man a freak. Though he may be one." the boy muttered the end of this.

"Then what'er we supposed ta call him?"

The man snorted, clearly amused. "Gilbert. Gilbert Beilschmidt. Not that it matters."

They heard two squeals and then it went completely silent.

"Great. You've went and scared them. You can go ahead and take your hand out, they won't talk to you. The two, for all their antics, are terrified of strangers and shy to a fault." The boys eyes got a glassy, far away look to them. "It's sweet, actually."

The man coughed and pointed to the trees (now back to their original position) and the pond. "So, 'Mattie', care to explain that to me?"

Matthew glared to the man. "It's Matthew to you, sir. Or 'Gilbert', as you so fit yourself to be called. And that was none of your business. It was mine, as is your reason for invading my-our home. If anyone needs to explain, it would be you, Gilbert."

Matthew's acidic tone and long words surprised Gilbert. Children didn't talk like that. Gilbert shrugged it off, looking down to small boy, who Was giving him one hell of a death glare.

"You give me my explanation, I'll give you yours.", he said with such nonchalance, it outraged the toddler.

Though he was angry with this demonic, arrogant, cunning man who had entered his supposedly imaginary world. It baffled him that people existed here. Or whatever it was Gilbert was. He was truly curious about this chilling being in front of him, and if he wanted answers, he would have to explain himself. He sighed, giving in.

"What you are standing in is the imaginary world I made as a child. It's beyond me how you got here, but I've never seen any other living thing here other than you."

Gilbert tilted his head from side to side, letting the idea that he was in a dream world sink in, before he nodded, intrigued. "So I gather that you're not a child, despite your presence."

Matthews face fell at the mention, now looking bitter and lonely. "No, sadly I am not. In fact, today is my twenty-first birthday. Not that anyone would know. Or care."

Gilbert hummed in understanding, nodding. "Happy Birthday, then. But what about the trees and the water?"

Matthew smiled now. "These," he said, gesturing to the sky and the ground and the trees and the pond. "are my friends. They're all I've ever had. After my father died, no one was there. Sure, Arthur adopted me into his family and Alfred was...Alfred. But after Papa, no one truly loved me. So I made this. I call it Euphoria."

"'Supreme bliss', correct?", Gilbert interrupted.

"Correct! There are no bugs or germs, no animals nor humans. There are no diseases and no pain. Just me and the breeze, as they say. Everything here has a soul. Every tree has a voice, a name, and a personality. All you have to do is touch it to know. Touch it and listen to what it has to say. That's all they want." then he looked at the ground and blushed, muttering, "That's all we want."

Gilbert's eyes softened at this, knowing exactly how Matthew was feeling, yet not knowing how to react to that feeling or how to comfort him. Instead, he moved onto his end of the deal.

"I am here to ask a favor of you."

Matthews eyebrow rose, giving Gilbert a wary look. "What favor?"

Gilbert smirked and pulled out the locket. "See, I need to hide this. Don't worry, you won't be hurt if it's found, though I might. All you have to do is wear it. Just...Whatever you do, don't open it."

Now Matthew was curious. "Why not?"

Gilbert's seemingly permanent smirk faded and revealed a serious frown. "If you open this, the...darkness that invaded you earlier will come again, ten fold. If not more. It will most likely either corrupt you and cause you to go crazy and kill everyone you can find, or it will kill you. In some cases, it has caused self-cannibalism or suicidal tendencies to appear."

Matthew reared back in disgust, but still being intrigued by the locket, opened his hand for it. "Okay, don't open the locket. Got it."

Gilbert laughed at his facial expression, putting the locket into his tiny hands. "Don't worry kid, I personally think you're already insane."

Matthew stuck his tongue out a the man. "I could say the same about you, Gilbert."

Gilbert's face was soon back to it's serious mask. "The locket will try to talk to you, persuade you to open it and peak inside. Just...ignore it, okay. It just wants to cause trouble. And that's my job."

The two laughed and Gilbert finally passed the locket over to Matthew.

As soon as the locket was placed in his hand, he instantly felt nostalgia creep into his pours. He felt safe, powerful even, with the object in his hands and he instantly put it on, noting how it was right on top of his heart.

"Oh, Mattie, could you do me another favor?"

Matthew looked up distractedly and hummed a reply.

"Could you tell your 'friends' to back off. There's something I have to do that they won't like."

Matthew nodded and walked over to the water, stick his hand in and telling the souls inside to be silent. The water turned ice cold and bubbled threateningly, but then calmed down, as if agreeing. The acidic rain falling from the skies lessened and lessened until they were no more. He then walked to the trees and wrapped his hand around one of the branches which were already wrapping themselves around his waist and arms and legs, tickling his face and neck and sides. He whispered to them, asking them to be still and whatever happened, to leave the man alone. They seemed to stiffen and glare in Gilbert's direction (if that was even possible for a tree), then relax and disentangle themselves from Matthews small, lithe frame. Matthew smiled appreciatively and thanked them.

Then he walked back to Gilbert, who put his hand on the boys head again. The boy looked confused.

"Wha-"

"Sorry."

The black entered his head again, though this time, it's intention wasn't of scaring him into submission. Before Matthew could even figure out where it was going or what it was doing, everything faded into black.

The trees and the water froze. Hell, even the air around him seemed to stop circulating. Then, as if begrudgingly, it slowly returned to normal.

Gilbert glared at the normal enough objects around him, as if expecting them to suddenly grab out for him, which, with what he'd just done to the boy, might happen. His expression softened when his eyes landed on the sleeping boy in the grass. His soft, honey colored hair was splayed all around him and over his face, making him look like a sleeping bride with a golden veil. His beautiful blue-violet eyes, while shut, twitched under his eyelids and he groaned, then turned on his back, as if he was having a stressful dream. Or a nightmare.

Gilbert leaned over and brushed his hair out of his face, smiling. It surprised him. He almost never truly smiled. The smile vanished when he remembered that he would probably never see the boy again.

As he thought back on the boy who seemed so pure, yet at the same time, tainted by secrets and blood, his frown grew sad, rather than resentful. He vowed to himself to see this boy again, if only to figure out what he was so keen on hiding.

He swept all his hair away from his face before he lightly kissed the boys forehead and whispered, "Schlaf gut, mein dunkler kleiner Engel.*"

Then, he was gone.

* * *

><p>The moment Matthew was knocked unconscious in Euphoria, he was sent back to reality, where he was madly playing the keys to a dark, serious melody that, honestly, scared Matthew a little. He didn't know that song.<p>

Matthew jumped up from the piano and fell to the floor, where he sat up, then crawled over to the secret exit. When he removed the panel, he was dismayed to find that the ladder had been moved. It put him at quite a disadvantage, considering he couldn't call for help lest it reveal his piano and he couldn't just jump.

_Well, why not?_

Matthew jumped at the voice that echoed through his head.

"Who are you?"

_Your fairy godmother. I'M THE LOCKET, YOU IMBECILE! Honestly, you humans are as dumb as dirt!_

"Hey! Excuse me, but I find that offensive!"

Honestly, Matthew had forgotten about the locket. That and he had assumed that the locket wouldn't follow him to reality. After all, nothing else did.

_Good. 'Cause it wasn't a compliment, kiddo._

"S-shut up!"

Make me.

"..."

_Yeah, that's what I thought. Now do you wanna get down from here, or just survive on piano keys forever._

"And how exactly do you plan to do that, Mr. All-knowing-inanimate-object?"  
><em><br>Three things. One, don't back talk your elders. It's rude._

"You're rude! And a locket!"

_Not always. Two, my name's Lovino. Get it, got it, good. And lastly, I thought maybe you could just, you know, JUMP?_

"Jump? I don't know if you can see this, but I'm dangling about, oh, TEN FEET OFF THE GROUND! That's not exactly the best height to be jumping from!"

The locket chuckled. _Don't worry, brat. You'll be fine. Probably._

"That's not very reassuring!"

_You got two choices, kid. You can jump now, or I can push you._

"Wait, I thought you couldn't get out of the locket?"

_I can't. That scossa* blocked my escape abilities. But he did leave me with minimal outer movement abilities. I can't do anything serious, like slapping you or moving things around, but I can make your hand move two inches, pushing it over the edge, send you tumbling out of balance and over the edge of the panel hole._

Matthew nodded. "You're Italian?"

_...Once. I was a lot of things, once. Now I'm an annoyed locket trying to get some dimwit Canadian to man up and push off. Honestly, ten feet won't kill you._

"Yeah, but it might break a limb!"

Lovino sighed. _Don't tell me I didn't warn you._

Then, Matthew slipped. Before he could even react, he felt a cold, transparent hand on his own move a few inches, until the hand slipped over the edge along with it's master. He opened his mouth to scream as he fell, but was stopped by that same ghostly hand over his mouth. Then he felt another one wrap around his waist and spin them around, so that whatever was behind him was now in front of him. Protecting him. When they hit the floor, Matthew felt himself land, not on hard wood floor, but on a body. A cold, transparent, ghostly body, but a body none the less.

Matthew froze when the body started to move, pushing him off and uttering multiple curse words, both in English and rapid fire Italian.

_**Sciochezze**! That hurt like hell! Haha, oh the irony!_

Matthew sat up and looked on in fear at the light, see-through body (or soul) of a laughing, red-headed Italian boy. Matthew was used to the voices in his head, as he often heard them while in Euphoria. What he wasn't used to was the souls that owned them. Therefore, he did what any rational person would have done after seeing their first spirit.

He screamed. And screamed.

Lovino immediately whipped his head around to stare at the boy, quickly turning around and waving his arms in an 'x' position, telling him to knock it off (among many curse words). When the screaming didn't stop, Lovino scowled and pushed his hand up against his mouth.

_Calm the crap down, Matthew! God!_

Matthew's were eyes were quickly growing to ecliptic proportions and his muffled screams slowly died, as did his struggles against the hands around his mouth. Lovino, thinking that the frantic Canadian had relaxed, let him go. Quickly, Matthew pushed his way away from Lovino, who looked half curious and half hurt.

"H-how did you know m-my n-n-name?"

Lovino scoffed.

_Matt, I know more about you than __**you**__ do. That black stuff you felt from before? Kid, you're lookin' at it! Well, kinda._

Matthew slowly began relaxing. He scurried closer to the Italian ghost sitting crisscross on his floor. "Kinda?"

_Yeah, well...The black from before was really my crown form, seeping into you and, well, getting used to you. That jerk wad from before- Gilbert? -he allowed me to, considering I'll probably be spending the rest of your life with you. And your kids. And your kids' kids. Anyway, since my form, or my resident "body" if you prefer, is now inside of that handy little locket he gave you, the only way to move or anything is to detach my soul from it. Ergo, I sit before you. The freak from before put a limit to my soul movement communications, like hitting, killing, and mind control are out of the picture, but I can talk and move about as long as I'm not too far from my form._

"O...kay? But, can anyone see you? Or hear you? And why can I feel you, touch you even, if you're only a soul?"

Lovino smirked. _That's just the thing, you __**shouldn't**__ be able to see me or touch me. It's just...not possible. And as for eavesdroppers...I guess you haven't really noticed._

"N-noticed what?"

I haven't been speaking.

Then it hit Matthew. Lovino's lips hadn't moved. Since he had begun speaking, never once had he really said anything. It had all been mental. Well, at least on Lovino's end.

"You've been communicating via thought?"

Lovino's smirk widened. _Bingo!_ _You know, maybe not __**all**__ humans are imbeciles._

Matthew laughed at this, but played along. He puffed his chest out, put his hands on his hips (which was slightly awkward, considering that both boys were still sitting), and said in a deep voice, "Did you ever doubt me?" before letting out all the breath in his lungs and slumping back down.

Lovino laughed with him. _Oh, how could I? With your muscle-less, bony body and girlish features...No, I could never doubt __**you**__. Just all the rest of humanity. But __**you! You're**__ special...Special ED, that is._

Matthew suddenly remembered the whole thought thing.

"So if I can hear your thoughts-"

_Actually, they're being transmitted to you. I'm sending you thoughts._

"Alright, fine, fine. But can you hear my thoughts- Or, can I send them to you?"

Suddenly Lovino looked meek, rubbing at his neck with his hand. _See, that's the problem with this whole stupid transmission thing. I can't even touch your thoughts without my form._

"That sucks."

_No, he sucks._

"Who?"

_Gilbert! Him and his brother! Those darn potato-eaters! And his father..._

"Who are they?"

Lovino gave me a confused look. _You didn't know?_

"Know what?"

Lovino growled lightly. _That JERK! Asking something like this of a kid like you...And without even explaining... Ooo, he is gonna GET IT when I find him!_

When I sent him a puzzled look, Lovino smiled sadly before crawling over to me and folding my hands in his.

_Matthew...I am beyond sorry for that scossa just dumping this on you. But...I'm not just some dark mist filling your locket. Gilbert's father...is the devil. He's the ruler of high hell, or Hades as we call it, and Gilbert and his younger brother, Ludwig, are his sons. Two weeks ago, his father, Brom, chose Ludwig as his successor. Gilbert wasn't so happy about that. So, he decided to take Brom's crown, and hide it somewhere on Earth._

And that's a big deal.

'Cause the devil's crown isn't just some special hat he wears- it contains the power to persuade human souls to do evil. My brother, Feliciano, is the fate's crown, or as you call him, God. With no competition, my brother will persuade every soul on earth to evil. No one will commit sins! Gilbert, being the idiot he is, is probably walking around, striving off his crime and waving it in people's faces like it's a medal. He's such a gloat! Anyway, who knows how long it will be before Gilbert or his father get sent back here to take me back to that hell-hole {A/N: haha, I made a pun :P}. Most likely, you'll be executed as well. I'm so sorry.

Matthew stared, "I-I'm gonna die?"

* * *

><p>(AN): I! LOVE! THIS! STORY! I'm serious, this story is my baby. My third actually. My second is almost finished (for those of you who like Vinland stories, you're gonna love this one) and my other one hasn't even been started :( I'M A NEGLECTANT PARENT DX Lawlz, just kidding, I have no children. Anyway, I've been pregnant with this story for a long time, and its thanks to some help, support, and chastising from the AMAZING Misterfleas, that this was born :) She also helped me with the last chapter of 'Of Pancakes and Ringtones' (I'm so sorry for not mentioning this~) is helping me with my Vinland baby and many others. YOU GO MISTERFLEAS! Oh, and Germania's name is one i randomly found on some baby name site. Its a different form of Bram which means "Raven" in old German (along with something about brusselsprouts, but thats beside the point). And the raven is said to symbolize death and demolition. If you've got a better name, tell me 'bout it, mkay? :3

*Translations:

Schlaf gut, mein dunkler kleiner Engel: Sleep well, my dark little angel

scossa: Jerk

**Sciochezze**: crap (Sowwy, I'm not allowed to curse!)

You have all been accused of Reading, which is punishable by FanFiction law with at least ONE review! I will reply to all reviews with glee~

I wish you all fun, friends, and plenty of food~!

Sarcastically, Pans_  
><em>


	2. Chapter 2 Witchcraft & Teeth

Chapter 2: Witchcraft

The next morning, Matthew was surprised to wake up not in his soft, sweet bed, but on the floor next to his cousin's bed. He sat up from the hard wood and popped his aching back, holding his head like the headache that was inhabiting it might break it in half. When he moved to stand, a hand flew through the air and landed right in front of his face.

And Matthew, like the great, manly adult he now was, squealed like a girl.

Luckily, it wasn't the devil in all his dark, evilness there to murder him, but his brother, who was sprawled out sideways on his expressively extravagant bed. Matthew, out of some measure of anger, flicked his brother's forehead, promptly waking the bear from his slumber.

"Mmm, who is it?"

"Well, gee, I don't know, Alfred; who is it?"

Alfred immediately sat up, which was both difficult and stupid because he was sideways and lying on his back anyway. After figuring out that lifting his head after having all the blood rushing there wasn't the best idea, he decided to sit up by jerking his leg up and over so he did a roll and landed on his butt in front of Matthew on his bed. Or, that's what should have happened. Instead, because his bed wasn't big enough, he did half a roll, then landed, not in front of Matthew, but on Matthew.

"God, that hurt. Remind me not to ever roll off my bed with a hangover. Ever."

"Alfred?"

"Yes, brother dearest?"

"Get off me."

"Sowwy."

Alfred rolled off of Matthew only to be punched square in the face.

"OWW! Dude! What was that for?"

Matthew, rubbing his knuckles, glared at his brother. "Do you even have to ask?"

"...Yeah."

Matthew sighed. This was why he didn't hold parties, because if he did, he would have to invite Alfred, and if he invited him, then Alfred would drink all the beer, invite himself to stay the night, and make everyone forget him because of how similar they were.

"You called me 'brother' again! How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? Then, you fell on me, threw a party for me even though I told you not to, which, by the way, ended up being for you! And then you peer-pressured me into a drinking competition, which I won, then when I passed out, you invited yourself to stay the night! Again!"

Alfred quirked an amused eyebrow at his cousin, smirking and sending him a sideways glance. "I can't believe you actually remembered that much, considering how smashed you we-"

Pillow to the face. "Head shot; thirty points. Score."

A scoff. "Nerd."

"Yeah, I'm the nerd. You and Kiku stayed up for three days straight when Silent Hill came out, though that was mostly 'cause you couldn't sleep after playing something so scary."

Alfred pouted at Matthew, begging him to take it back. When his infamous 'puppy dog eyes' didn't work, he sighed, sitting up but not looking at Matthew. "Fine! Sorry, sorry, sorry. I'll fix it. I'll...throw you another pa-"

"No! I don't want a party, Alfred. I just want..."

Matthew tilted his head down, so his annoyingly concerned cousin couldn't see the tears threatening to bubble out and over, into existence. What did he want? Matthew knew the answer immediately. He wanted attention. He wanted people to notice him. He wanted people to say "hi" to him, not what they thought was Alfred.

Alfred looked over at Matthew, smiling sheepishly. "Pancakes?"

"Yeah, and a lot of them."

Alfred laughed loudly (he did everything loudly) and patted his cousin/look-alike on the back roughly (he did everything roughly too. It's amazing he wasn't a bully during school). "All right, all right, fine. Why don't you get dressed while I make some pancakes."

Matthew looked up, teary-eyed. "Really? With lots of maple syrup?"

Alfred's eyes softened and his laugh was softer. Somehow, Matthew had always known how to turn his volume down. "As much as I can find, bro."

Matthew smiled widely before throwing his arms around his cousins neck. "Thank you, Alfie!"

Alfred, still a little surprised by the sudden hug and the nickname he hadn't heard since they were children, hugged him back, chuckling. God, his cousin was such a girl. "Heh, don't mention it. What else are heroes for?"

Matthew pulled away, putting a finger to his bottom lip in thought. "Saving innocent civilians and beating up the bad guys?"

Alfred gave Matthew a 'seriously?' face, before pushing his cousin out of his lap and standing up, stretching. "Well, I better get started. You change out of your girly pj's, then come help me, mkay?"

Matthew blushed, looking down at his five-sizes-too-big number 17 hockey jersey, red to match the baggy black shorts which just barely peeked out from under it. He thought it was quite manly, thank you very much. "S-shut up, you hoser! Like you're any better with your superman boxers!"

Alfred threw a shirt on and turned his head back to stick his tongue out childishly towards Matthew. "You're just jellin' 'cause you don't got any~!"

As Alfred walked out of the room, leaving his younger cousin crouching on the floor, entangled in covers, Matthew snarled. "No one says 'jellin'' anymore! Nerd!" (A/N: T.T I say "jellin'.")

"Says the boy who stalks people for pictures~!" Alfred called from the kitchen.

"I-it's not s-s-stalking! It's my j-job!"

"Mhmm, oh, you sound so sure."

Matthew, finally giving into his brother's teasing, scrambled up from the wooden floor and threw the bunched up covers back on the bed, shouting things like, "I hate you" and "you can make your own darn bed."

He stomped down the stairs that littered the house and into his room, only to be tackled to the ground and have a hand cover his mouth to muffle his (rather manly) scream.

_Shh!_

Matthew opened his eyes and pushed the hand off his mouth, recognizing the mental voice. "Lovi?"

Lovino swung his head down to look at the boy he was crouching over flicked his forehead in annoyance, then clamped his hand over Matthews mouth again. _Duh, and don't call me that. And shut up! I heard some arguing from upstairs earlier... I think there's someone in your house._

Matthew rolled his eyes and pushed the hand away again. "That was my stupid cousin and I."

The Italian cocked an eyebrow and got off the boy.

_Really? Didn't sound like it. You sound more...girly._

Matthew, tired of all the comments on his gender, promptly socked Lovino on the side of the head. "Shut it, Lovi. That's twice I've been called a girl and it's only-" he looked over the pouting Italian's shoulder at the clock. "12:35!"

Lovino shrugged. _Not my fault you look like a girl. And stop calling me that!_

Matthew, ignoring Lovino's protests to his new nickname, blushed and pouted, crossing his arms. "What's so girly about me? Huh, Lovi?"

_Seriously? Just look at how you're dressed! And 'God' couldn't have given you more feminine facial features...the eyes, the jaw, even your hair is longer than it needs to be! And all curly too. And you're not exactly a superhero in body build either, kiddo. AND STOP CALLING ME THAT!_

Matthew was prepared to break into an hour long rant, but he suddenly had an idea. He stuck out his tongue at the fuming, red faced Italian. "Not until you call me manly."

Lovino smirked, seeing straight through him. _Can't. I'm not a liar._

"All right then, Lovi, I guess you'll just forever be called Lovi, Lovi."

_Shutupshutupshutup!_

"You know the rules."

_Fine, you great big...JERK! You're oh so manly, it hurts my freaking EYES to look at you! I mean, who wouldn't think so, what with your skin-and-bones figure, and your girly, never-grew-out-of-the-baby-fat face, and that almost-a-dress, big-enough-to-hold-all-of-America's-weight-challenged-passengers t-shirt; Who wouldn't think you were a total hunk? Now, STOP CALLING ME LOVI!_

Matthew pouted, knowing that all this was true. "It's a hockey jersey, just so you know. I'm captain, you know. And no, I don't think I will, Lovi~!"

"Who's Lovi?"

Matthew and Lovino looked up, Lovino with his mouth hanging open, in the process of cussing out his new and only friend on this Earth, only to come face-to-face with Alfred F. Jones, hero extraordinaire. Personally, Matthew was more in the favor of the villains (A/N: omg, when did they start serving pancakes in the dark side?), if only for the satisfaction of watching Alfred flail and go into a two hour rant on heroes and their epicness. Then he sulked and avoided Matthew for a maximum of three days before he was back, begging for pancakes. It inflated his ego, which was very hard to do nowadays.

Lovino screamed, forgetting momentarily that he couldn't be seen. Although Alfred heard not a word, Matthew did and instantly covered his ears to the screeching, which, in hindsight, was an extremely good idea, because then things began getting complicated.

First, all the windows and the glass pancake plate in Alfred's hand broke, spilling glass, pancakes, syrup, and (mental) hours of hard work all over him. Alfred yelped and backed against the wall, completely ignoring his cut hand. Then, the flower vase on Matthew's desk broke, spilling water and flowers all over his papers, desk, and camera.

Immediately, Matthew jumped up and darted for his room. In that moment, he completely forgot his normally brave and energetic cousin, now curled in the corner, tears tracking down his face in fear and shock, and his normally snarky and confident friend, now balling and screeching, unconsciously breaking and destroying Matthew's house. All he knew was that what had been his entire life up until now and had paid his bills, was now covered in dirty flower water and (now ruined and crushed) tulips. He quickly grabbed his bedsheets patted down his laptop and his papers (examining his still-developing pictures for imperfections while doing so), and inspecting his beloved camera for damages.

And he found one. Needless to say, he was a little pissed. Maybe a little more than pissed. Maybe a lot. Just maybe.

"Great, Lovi! Just. Freaking. Awesome! My lens is scratched! You're gonna pay for this, I swear!"

But when he spun around to scold Lovino for his over-reactions and their consequences, what he saw was not what he expected. Lovino was on his knees, face turned towards the heavens, green eyes glowing. Actually, his entire form was glowing. His screeching still echoed through the room, scraping Matthews earlobes and bringing him to his knees in pain. Matthew opened an eye and noticed his brother, bleeding and passed out on the floor, and an army of leaves from the trees outside came storming inside, flowing around, but not touching, Matthew and Lovino. It blocked Matthews vision and now two of his five senses were completely blocked.

As a last resort,he reached forward and tried to call out to his brother. He couldn't even hear his own voice. He called out to Lovi, but the soul only sat there, almost lifeless except for the screaming.

Then, just when he thought it couldn't get any more insane, the leaves began closing in.  
>Matthew, in a desperate attempt to protect himself and his odd friend, crawled over to him and hugged him, protecting Lovino's front. He held out a hand to stop the closing in leaves on Lovino's back. Just as the leaves (which turned out to be red hot and sharp, cutting and burning my hand) began to close in on us, everything stopped.<p>

I opened my eyes and noticed in a very "Wizard of Oz" type fashion, that we were not in Montreal anymore.

**Meanwhile, in Hades's Palace:**

"GILBERT ROBERTO BEILSCHIMIDT, GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Gilbert, who had been flirting with the head chef (a pretty brunette called Liza-something who absolutely detested him, taking every opportunity to hit him on the head with her frying pan. He knew she would come around sooner or later. They always did.), frowned at his father's loud, commanding tone, but he did as told. He bid his farewells to Ela-whatever and calmly fast-walked (read: jogged, then full-out ran) to his father's office, sure to keep his shoulders straight and his military attire presentable. When he saw the stain given to him accidentally by El-who-cares (one that he had just previously laughed off), he scowled and mentally reminded himself to have her fired.

Or, better yet, he could torture her himself. That was always such a pick-me-up.

When Gilbert finally rounded the corner of the long, winding hallways into his father's office, he was surprised to see his father sitting in his large, anti-matter* (everything was made out of anti-matter there) chair, pulling and tugging at his usually well-kept hair, pulling out chunks at a time in his intense stress and worry. Next to him was Ludwig, who was biting his now bleeding lips and looking down on his father in worry. When Gilbert came into the room, Ludwig immediately whipped his head around to glare at him and took a step forward, probably only one flash-step from kicking Gilbert's teeth in. He was stopped by Brom's arm, though Brom was not even looking up from his desk.

Gilbert scoffed, finding all the anger and gloomy feelings in the air ridiculously funny. He fell into a chair in front of his father's desk sideways and looked over at his two relatives. "So! What's with all the excitement? What did I miss?"

Ludwig growled and Brom sent him a cool glance. Ludwig coughed, then straightened his outfit and stood at attention, though he glared at Gilbert the entire time. Gilbert sneered at his brother, but he turned an interested look to his father, who was now looking at him through his laced fingers that covered his mouth.

"Gilbert, would you like to tell me where Lovino is?"

"Ah, that! Well it's nice to see that you people are on top of things! Reminds me that I'm not needed!"

Brom sighed. "Is that what this is about? I told you Gilbert, you will be the leader of our military, but _not_ the leader of our world. I just don't think-"

"You don't think I'm ready for it, do you?" Gilbert smirked. "Well, I hope you remember that when the Fate's kingdom takes you down faster then you can count."

The room was quiet for a bit as Brom and Ludwig took in this information. Then Ludwig exploded. Curse words flowed from his mouth, steadily growing louder and more offensive. His glare at Gilbert turned absolutely scalding and his words, while venomous and scolding, slid off Gilbert like glass.

Just when Ludwig had lost his breath and was on the edge of giving up, Brom spoke up.

"All right. I get your point. If we don't find Lovino soon, our entire kingdom will be fated to destruction. Therefore, someone needs to go searching for him, and I want that person to be you, Gilbert."

Gilbert's smirk fell faster than you could count the seconds. "What?"

Brom smirked and Ludwig sneered. "You heard me, Gilbert. Since it was obviously _you_ who took and hid Lovino from me, you know best where it is. Ergo, you will be the one to find it. It shouldn't take long."

Gilbert's jaw fell. How could his father just…_do that_? "No! I don't want to!"

Brom laughed. "I think it's a little too late for that, Gilbert. Now you will go to Earth, find Lovino, and immediately tell Ludwig, so he can come get him."

"…That's it?"

"Yep."

Gilbert shrugged and got up, his hand already on the door knob before he noticed something. "You…never mentioned anything about coming home."

Brom's smile spread. "Exactly."

Gilbert began to panic. He had figured his father would be angry when he found out, but he didn't think _this_ would happen! Being banned from his home… It left a hollow feeling in his chest. He was almost positive that, had he had one, his heart would burst and drench him in loneliness.

"B-but what am I going to do? With no money, no skills, I'll die in that barren wasteland of a planet!"

Brom sighed, leaning his head in his hand. "Now, now, Gilbert, don't be so down on yourself. I'm sure you have some skill. After all, you are the son of 'Satan' as they call me on Earth. You're a devil."

"A devil we're more than happy to get rid of," Ludwig added.

Brom nodded. "Now, your last 'mission' begins immediately. I will give you fifteen minutes to get everything you need and say your goodbyes. If I find you here again after that, you will be executed."

Gilbert opened his mouth to argue, to protest and deny his abandonment, but he knew it was hopeless. So, he did the only thing he could. He left with dignity. He bowed to his father and his brother, thanking them for their time and their company. His father smiled kindly at him for a change, sadness at seeing his first son leave shone clearly on his face. He nodded and Ludwig did the same, a small, "likewise" slipping through his worry-bitten lips.

Gilbert smiled one last time before walking quickly down the hall to his room, where he spent ten minutes ranting to his wall and the last five packing. He had no one to say goodbye to. Sure, he had friends, but none of them were worth saying goodbye to. They probably wouldn't care. Heck, they'd probably celebrate!

Gilbert set to work opening a portal, saying just a word and the white-rimmed black hole appeared. Just before he teleported back to Earth for the second time in a week, he looked over his shoulder and saw a soldier already entering his room, intent on getting Gilbert's head on the chopping block. Gilbert chuckled as the man seemed to not notice him and whistled to the devil. The agitated soul swiveled around, glaring at Gilbert and yelled for him to "get back here, you mangy mutt!" Gilbert laughed, putting his open palms next to his head and blowing a raspberry childishly at him before waving and jumping into the portal, closing it immediately after, never to be seen again.

**Back to the present:**

The instant Matthew's blue-violet orbs snapped open, he was hit with a wave of pain. But more important was the car now careening towards him. Matthew squealed (and totally didn't sound like a girl when he did) and crawled out of midday traffic on the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland. When he was safely on the side of the bridge, he lied back, looked at his surroundings, and immediately knew where he was.

Alfred lived near there.

Over the deafening sound of cars, bikes, police sirens, and pedestrians talking on cell phones, he heard a familiar argument. Now, mind you, it wasn't the argument, per se, that he remembered. It was the voices. One was mental, loud, and extremely ticked off. Lovino. The other was low and fairly pissed as well, though he tried not to yell. Its tone was harsh and chilling. Instantly, flashes of white hair and blood red eyes filled Matthew's mind. But, it couldn't be _him_…could it?

Suddenly another wave of pain rolled over him. From head to toe, everything throbbed and ached. Especially his left eye. He tried to open it but found it would not. He put a hand to his eye, and when he brought it back, his entire hand was red. For a second, he feared that maybe his eye wasn't shut, but then something pulled his attention away from his eye.

Something in the form of footsteps.

He shut the eye that still retained vision, telling himself that he didn't want to know. Even though Lovino and the voice had been fairly far away, in just seconds a hand grabbed his chin and yanked it up to face him. His head was turned left, right, up, down, then roughly let go of, and a harsh laugh filled the atmosphere.

He knew that laugh.

He cautiously opened his one functioning eye and looked up to see twinkling ruby red eyes shining down on him. He frowned and opened his mouth to question just why and how he was here, but his voice came out sounding like he had tried to swallow glass.

"G-Gil...bert..w-what are..you...doing...-"

Gilbert smiled sarcastically. "Here? Well, I heard it was a little birdie's birthday and I thought I would just drop by~!"

"Ha..-freaking-...ha. S-seri..ous..ly?"

"See, look at you! Missing an eye and a backwards arm, and you've still got enthusiasm left over to joke about it! See, Lovi, I told you he'd be fine!"

Suddenly, Lovino entered his field of vision, pushing Gilbert out of the way via punch to the face. He smiled (which automatically made it weird) a strained grin down at Matthew.

_That retard's just kidding, Matt. You're fine._

"L-Lovi?...You're a...t-terrible liar."

Lovino huffed. _Am not!_

"…I-I can't…see. Out of m-my left…eye…Gil-bert…said-"

_It doesn't matter what the retard said! He's a liar too!_

"…Just…tell me… the t-truth, Lovi."

_...Fine. Fine! You really wanna know what happened? You have to promise to stop speaking. And stop moving too. You're losing too much blood to even be awake!_

After a moment of thinking, he nodded.

Lovino look a deep breath, then began. _Well, after your cousin, 'Alfie' or whatever, came in, the chain on the locket broke for some reason. Maybe 'cause you fell asleep in it. Anyway, when it broke…it kinda opened. Gilbert said he already told you about what's happened to other people who opened it without having me contained first. It's not like I do it on purpose! I just kinda…black out. Then, when I wake up, everyone is dead. I can't tell you how many friends I've lost like that…_

"I'm s-sorry…. That's not…fair..to you-u."

_What did I say about talking!_

"S-sorry."

Lovino glared childishly, shaking a scolding finger at him. Matthew giggled breathlessly and Gilbert chuckled.

_Anyway, because I blacked out, I don't really know what happened past that. Except that, half way through, I realized that things were getting way too scary and decided to find the retard, so he could come get me. Luckily, he wasn't far away, and when I mentally told him what was going on, he began making a long-distance portal around me, to take me away from you so I wouldn't hurt anyone. But you didn't know that. So you tried to 'save' me, but ended up hurting yourself._

And suddenly, Matthew remembered the leaves. How hot they had been. And when they closed in…

"…The l-leaves…"

Lovino smiled sadly and took one of his hands. _The retard used the leaves for the portal, and when you touched them…They burned you pretty bad, but the worst… The worst is that one came loose. And… it took out your eye._

Matthew's eyes (_eye_ now) widened.

_The portal took you with me, but since it was only made to support one… You kinda ended up in the middle of the road. A… a car… ran over your arm. You're probably so past the point of pain that you can't even feel it… I'm so sorry._

"W-what?"

Lovino, without looking away from me, glared and elbowed Gilbert somewhere even the devil wouldn't want to be elbowed, whispering, _Apologize, idiot!_

Gilbert groaned in pain and smiled sheepishly at me. "Um…S-sorry, brat?"

Lovino sighed and put his head in his hands, cursing and mumbling things like, W_hy must I work for such an idiot? _and _How does anybody stand him?_

Honestly, Matthew was beginning to wonder that himself.

Suddenly, his earlier conversation with Gilbert popped to mind, along with his unanswered question of what exactly he was doing there anyway. He looked up at Gilbert and decided to continue with his interrogation. But, when Matthew opened his mouth, he found that what little voice he had was now exhausted. He couldn't talk. So, he decided to try something. He leaned forward and nervously grabbed Gilbert's hand. Gilbert looked down at him and raised an amused eyebrow.

_"Gilbert?"_

Gilbert jumped, hearing the voice enter his head. He looked around, trying to find exactly where the voice had come from. It wasn't Lovino, of that he was sure. But when he looked down and saw Matthew, twisted arm, blood running down his face from his eye, and smirking- It couldn't be _him,_ could it?

_**Matthew?**_

_"Ow, okay, not so loud?"_

_**Sorry.**_

_"Hey, since you guys are telling the truth now, can you tell me what you're doing here? Considering I don't think you were telling the truth earlier. It seemed like sarcasm."_

_**Really? I hadn't noticed!**_

_"Gilbert, just answer the question."_

_**Only if you tell me how you managed thought transmission.**_

_"I don't know! I just… did! I did what I always do in Euphoria."_

_**So **__**that's**__** why you grabbed my hand!**_

Matthew rolled his eyes. _"No, I just __**really**__ wanted to hold your hand."_

_**See, I knew you'd come around!**_

_"…Yeah, whatever. Just spill it."_

…_**Fine. I was hoping to stall and tease you long enough for you to forget, but if you really must know, I'm here because it's the only place I have left to go.**_

_"What about your father? I'm sure he would be willing to take you back. You are his son, after all."_

_**That's just it. He's the one who sent me here. He told me to "find Lovino, tell Ludwig where he is so he can come get him, and then don't come back." I'm…banned. From my own home!**_

_"That's…rough. But, are you actually gonna force Lovino back to Hades?"_

Gilbert snorted and Lovino raised an eyebrow. _**Psh, no! If Lovi doesn't wanna go, I ain't gonna make 'im. Actually, that's what we were just arguing about. Lovi's bein' really indecisive. He doesn't wanna go back, but he doesn't wanna stay here and 'babysit' me. Really, I think he doesn't wanna get me in trouble.**_

Matthew snickered and Lovino scowled, wondering what they were saying and why he wasn't a part of it. _"Oh, I'm sure. Anyway, isn't Lovi really important to your dad? How are you gonna hide him?"_

_**I was just kinda gonna… I don't know, move around. I can sense the aura of another devil and according to you, you can see it, so I figure that I'll just drag you with us, and we'll ditch where ever we are when we see 'em.**_

_"..Well gee, that's an elaborate plan, and thank you for informing me that you are pretty much going to kidnap me and force me to be your and Lovi's bodyguard. Do I get an opinion on this?"_

_**Nope, not really!**_

_"Awesome. Thanks, nice to know that I'm cared about. Hey, could you do me a favor?"_

_**Depends, what is it?**_

_"Come here."_

Gilbert quirked an eyebrow and leaned in slightly, when Matthew leaned forward and smacked him in the face. Gilbert blinked, then smiled deviously.

_**You'll regret that, brat.**_

_"Oh, come on, you big baby; it didn't even hurt."_

_**Does it matter? You hit me; now it's my turn.**_

Matthew rolled his eyes, unintimidated. _"You sound like Al."_

Gilbert frowned and raised a curious eyebrow, but shrugged. Then, that devil's smirk was back. He grabbed Matthew by the back of the shirt and carried him with ease to the edge of the bridge. Matthew's eyes grew wide when he saw where they were, and he realized that maybe pissing off the son of the devil wasn't his best idea.

"Y-you wouldn't…"

"Oh, but my dear, I would. And Matthew, it's nice to see you've regained your ability to speak. Splendid! Now I don't have to touch you every time I want to talk to you!"

Matthew blushed. "Shut… up! Its not like… I.. enjoy... having to touch… filth like.. _you_!"

Gilbert laughed and took a finger off of Matthew's shirt. Matthew panicked.

"D-don't you… _dare_… let go!"

Gilbert smirked. "Beg."

Matthew stopped struggling for a minute, then put on a 'really, Gilbert' face. "A-are you… serious?"

"I'm as serious as a heart attack, Mattie~! It's one six-letter word, plus my name, or it's Davy Jones's Locker!" he leaned forward and whispered. "Your choice."

Matthew shook his head 'no' and grabbed onto Gilbert's arm with both hands. Gilbert laughed and suddenly his arm went see-through, and Matthew's hands slipped through. Another finger let go of Matthew's shirt, and Matthew felt his life-line began to diminish. Matthew was now having an inner debate with himself. His dignity or his life? It was a fairly tough decision, but when another finger let go, he finally chose.

Matthew quit struggling. His body went limp, and he turned his face down. Just when Gilbert thought he had decided that he would rather die than plead for his life, Matthew brought his face back up to reveal tears streaming down it. His eyes were big and pleading behind his broken glasses, and his bottom lip trembled. He brought both hands up to his chin and did what he would forever hate himself for doing.

**"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T LET GO GILBERT!"**

Gilbert frowned and sighed at having his fun spoiled in such a (cutely) displeasing way. He had enjoyed teasing the boy, but he was a devil true to his word. He sighed again but carried Matthew over the rail and sat him carefully on his feet, only to have Matthew fall back over on him, his feet badly burned just like the rest of him. Gilbert chuckled and caught him. Then, an idea popped into his head.

_**I've got an idea. I'm gonna help you walk again.**_

Matthew frowned and curved one of his delicate eyebrows upwards in a silent question of 'and how exactly do you plan to do that?' Gilbert laughed heartily and grabbed Matthew's hand as he climbed up the railing. He stood on it, taking a moment to steady himself, then took a step forward. Matthew, standing awkwardly (and painfully) next to his balancing friend was forced to take a step forward as well, so as not to tip his friend (but were they friends?) into a watery oblivion. Gilbert smirked down at Matthew.

_**See, you took a step. Now, I'm gonna make you walk. And if you don't, you'll kill me! And you don't look like a killer to me! No offense!**_

_"Some taken. And this has got to be the most morbid form of 'helping' I've ever encountered."_

_**Deal with it. And get a move on, I'm already three steps ahead of you.**_

After a while, Matthew and Gilbert were walking at the same, steady pace, and Matthew was lightly smiling, occasionally laughing at something Gilbert transmissioned to him. Gilbert snickered and scoffed often, sometimes smiling, other times sneering, but a frown never passed his lips. Lovino, watching his two (idiotic) friends walk, was completely confused by the silent, wordless conversation they seemed to have going on. Finally, fed up with being left out and forgotten, he sent a quick thought to them both and waited for Matthew to respond vocally and Gilbert mentally.

_What are you two freaks doing? And why are you holding hands? This isn't a picnic! Matt, we should be getting you to a hospital. And Gilbert- we shouldn't even be here! We should already be on a plane to somewhere foreign and exotic and nowhere near here, remember, so no one gets hurt?_

Gilbert nodded to Matthew, before smiling over at Lovino, practically sparkling with happiness and good intentions. Sigh, if only it wasn't all fake.

_**Why, are you jealous? Don't worry; I'll hold your hand later. And anyway, I'm helping Mattie! See, I got him to walk~! And we can't leave Mattie here!**_

_Why not? He'll only get hurt if we take him with us. Let's just get him some help, say our goodbyes, then catch the next plane to Japan._

_**No-can-do, meinkleiner Freundwütend~! Mattie's gotta come with us! He's gonna help us stay away from those jerks from Hades!**_

Lovino gaped at his obviously deranged friend (though he would never admit them to being friends). _Oh really? And how is that gonna happen? Honestly, he's just a boy! You need to stop putting so much responsiblity on hi-_

_**See, I don't think so. See, he ca-well, its just that he-well... Mattie, would you do the honors?**_

Matthew nodded and Gilbert carefully walked Matthew over to Lovino. Matthew smiled reassuringly to the nervous, sceptical, yet curious red head and grabbed his hand.

_"H-hey Lovi."_

Lovino immediately jumped, pulling his hands way from Matthew and holding them against his chest as if the other had burned him. Slowly, realizing that Matthew had transmitted the thoughts to him, the Italian gave his hands back.

_How did you do that?_

_"T-thought t-t-transmission? I just...think. And apparently, when I touch things with souls in them, the souls hear those thoughts."_

… _Really? T-that's… that's... amazing. Really, it is. I've… __**never**__ heard of anything like this happening. Ever! What else can you do? _Lovino, in his excitement, let his angry facade fall and smiled excitedly, bobbing up and down slightly. When he heard a giggle from Gilbert, he immediately scowled at the poor German before turning a slightly softer expression towards the surprised Canadian.

_"W-well… I-I can… I can kinda… see a sort of blackness around people like Gilbert. Like an aura. Now that you're in your… 'form'… you've got one too."_

_Really? So… you can tell us if any Hades soldiers are after us! Gods, we've got to take you with us!_

_**That's what I said!**_

_"G-Gilbert? When d-did you g-g-get here, eh?"_

Gilbert mock-gasped. _**Why, Matthew! How could you be so cruel! I've been here the entire time! I taught you how to walk-**_

Matthew scoffed. _"-And almost dropped me in the Willamette River-"_

_**-And saved you from being dunked in the Willamette River! And this is the thanks I get! I'm forgotten and tossed aside like a stray! Oh, woe is m-**_

Now, Lovino wasn't a patient person, and many could consider him quite like an American with his need for instant gratification. And honestly, Matthew and Gilbert's silly argument was amusing to him. But, there is only so much Lovino can take. Therefore, in his mind, when he pushed Gilbert, it was completely justified. But what happened after totally wasn't.

Because nothing could ever justify pushing your friend, frenemy, even your enemy, off a bridge and into the Willamette River.

(A/N): Okay, I have SO much to say about this chapter (and this story in general), so sit back, relax, and enjoy the comfort that this will likely be over 10,000 words (Banjoman: Actually, it's not even 7,000 ouo), because of the Authors Note alone~! First, I want to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, or alerted. Each and everyone of you gets a hug from both me and my stuffed giraffe, Charles! Yes, you should feel honored; he doesn't like to hug many people. Other than me, of course (Charles: LIES! I have not, nor will I ever, give you or anyone else a *shivers* 'hug'! Me: BUT CHARLIEEEE~! I hug you all the time ^_^ Charles: *glares and hits me with a book* Exactly. I never hug you back, weirdo. Me: *sniffles* You have no idea how much it means to me that you think I'm weird! Charles: ...it wasn't a compliment. You know what, never mind!)

ANYWAY! I would also like to mention that all the titles for these chapters will be song titles, and I will put the band down here in the Authors Rant-I mean Note ^_^ Last time It was "Devil in the Detail" by The Hoosiers, an amazing band, if I do say so myself. And I just did. Ergo, it's an amazing band :] I know, my logic just boggles the mind~ This time, it was actually a tie between two songs: Witchcraft by Pendulum, because of its immense feel of danger, and "Teeth" by Dead and Divine, for its music and the haunting lyrics that somehow seem to fit right in :] YouTube, Google, I don't care, just look these epic songs up NOW! Please?

Oh, and before I forget;

_Translation Time~! (along with other things):_

_**meinkleiner Freundwütend - **_my angry little friend

*Anti-matter (in a short description) is the opposite of every atom, molecule, everything on Earth. I thought it was perfect~

Anyway, I probably missed a lot of stuff, but I guess I'll just add it next chapter. BUT! One thing that is SUPER IMPORTANT (important enough for me to bold and put in caps) is this:

**DO YOU EPIC PEOPLE OF THINK I SHOULD RE-TITLE THIS "SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES" OR SHOULD I LEAVE IT AS IS, SO NO ONE GETS CONFUSED? **

Well, I love you all (platonically, of course), and I thank you for being so patient and waiting on my potentially ADHD butt to hurry up and upload. Hopefully, it's long enough to make up for it.

YOU THERE! You've been accused and charged with reading this fanfiction of epicness! This is punishible by and in the FanFiction Worldwide Court (FFWC) with at least one review! No exceptions!

As I bid you all adieu, I am sending wishes of fun, food, and plenty of free time to you all~

To my lovely readers,

Pans


	3. Chapter 3 Get Better

**Chapter 3: Get Better** (Mates of State)

(A/N):

*gets on knees* I'M SO SORRY! I've been a bad author and neglected you poor darling readers for so long! I'm SO sorry, but school started like, three weeks ago, so I had a lot goin' on. Anyway, I've realized that I have yet to do a disclaimer for this, so I shall grant you one now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia and I don't own Human!Gilbird (though I do own his eyes, 'cause I changed the color). Human!Gilbird goes to The-Blurple-Mage on dA (DeviantArt, for all you nerds who don't know what that is). The only thing I own is the plot to this epic story, a very fluffy green cover, and my stuffed giraffe, Charles.

Oh, and 'Auntie Clementine' is Ireland. Yeah, shut up. I like that name. And Adrian is Scotland, which for some reason, I always thought had two "t"s. Hugo is...well, I'll let you figure that out ;)

Anyway, have fun with that~

When Matthew woke up that morning, he wasn't all that surprised to see three pairs of eyes crowding up both his personal space and peripheral vision. What he was surprised about was that not two but four of these eyes were bright blue. Two were obviously Alfred's because of the shaggy blond hair covering half of one. So who were the other two?

Before he could find out, the three eyes widened in realization and proceeded to envelop the smaller boy in a soul crushing group bear hug.

_Took you long enough.  
><em>  
><em>"Yeah, yeah, whatever, but could you maybe, oh I don't know, <em>_**get them off of me**__?"_

_Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the six day coma recovery, huh? Well, as much as I would love to kick that potato-eating loser in the balls, I can't. Little to no human contact, remember?_

_"Wait, what do you mean by c-"_

Matthew and Lovino's talk was interrupted by the sound of conversation going on above him - on top of him, really.

Alfred and Gilbert, as Matthew had finally recognized him to be, were talking animatedly about video games or hockey or something, and honestly, Matthew wasn't too surprised that he hadn't recognized the man earlier.

Gilbert was dressed in a pair of worn black skinny jeans and red and black vans, which matched perfectly with the fake tie that had been illustrated on the front of his tight, white tee. He had on red suspenders (that now dangled off his hips, as he'd taken them off) and a blue jacket (unzipped with the hood on, classy) with long bunny ears dangling off. His bright blue (but weren't they red before?) eyes were half hidden by red nerd shades, and he was sucking on a lollipop, occasionally taking it out to gesture with it or point teasingly at Alfred, who threatened to take it himself if Gilbert didn't keep it in his mouth.

Honestly, anyone would have thought he was a college kid.

Strangely, the two seemed to be getting along rather well, but even stranger than that was the fact that Alfred could even see Gilbert. But, of course, the oddest out of Matthew's observations was the small boy currently resting on Gilbert's shoulders.

He had big orange eyes and light blond hair that covered one eye. He was so small that he could probably pass for a four-year-old if he tried. He was outfitted in a bright yellow jacket with a black sweater underneath it, green shorts, and yellow rain boots. He had on light yellow head phones with baby chicks painted on the muffs, which were, of course, connected to a small yellow iPod Nano that he was holding as far away from him as arms would allow (aka, on top of Gilbert's head). He appeared to be trying to figure it out, scrolling through the songs with a scowl on his face and his tongue sticking out. It was really quite cute.

Matthew coughed slightly, sending all heads turning to him. He opened his mouth to ask where he was, who the boy was, and how they knew each other, but he was interrupted when the boy jumped off of Gilbert and into his lap with an excited expression.

"Mattie, Mattie, do you remember me, huh? Do ya?"

Matthew looked down at the preschooler curled around his neck and smiled politely.

His voice came out scratchy and rough. "I'm afraid not. Would you mind telling me?"

The boy pouted, and his already impossibly big orange eyes widened further. "H-how could you not remember me? You n-named me!"

With this, he ran out of the room crying, and Alfred and Gilbert looked at each other, then at Matthew with an amused expression.

"Good going, Birdie. Just woke up and you're already making kids cry."

"That's gotta be a new record!"

Matthew pouted. "What? I don't know him. What was I supposed to do, lie?"

"Duh," they both said.

Then Alfred got directly in his face, grabbing his chin and turning it left and right in a very familiar way. Suddenly, all of Matthew's memories came crashing back from the day before. The locket opening. Gilbert. The bridge.

Unfortunately, everything past the bridge was blurry, but if there was one thing he did remember, it was the pain. That agonizing pain that hit every nerve, every cell, every atom of his body with unearthly strength. It burned into his memory and somehow seeped into reality, and Matthew did the only thing he could to defend himself.

He screamed.

"Woah, woah, Mattie! Are you okay? Where does it hurt?" Alfred's concerned voice bleached through his screams. He tried to stop but found he couldn't, not until arms wrapped around him, pulling him up and into a warm body and an even warmer embrace.

"G-Gilb-"

"Hush, Birdie, shh. I'm here. It's over. You're not in pain anymore. You're free."

Matthew collapsed at his words, falling into his arms and giving into his feelings. He quietly sobbed into his friend's shirt and clutched the front of it tightly in hands. "I-It burns, Gil... It's beyond pain... it's t-torture.."

"I know, Mattie, I know. But you're safe now. We're safe. Because of you."

Matthew frowned and looked up at Gilbert. "W-what?"

Gilbert sighed and smiled softly at him. "You don't remember, do you?"

Matthew shook his head no. "N-not after th-the bridge."

Gilbert chuckled. "Well, why don't we start at the beginning, hmm? We were in the 'Art and Crap' room, as you so delightfully put it, and you said you wanted to go for a walk, so we decided to stop at the bridge so you could get some pictures and go back home. When we got there, you were doing your thing, and I was walking on the railing, but I slipped and fell. And you saved me."

Matthew didn't understand. Those were lies, they had to be. "W-what?"

Alfred laughed and took up the story from there. "Yep! You were like Superman! When Gilbo here fell, you jumped right over with him. You must've grabbed him and turned him away from the water, 'cause you both survived. Then, you swam across the water lake and over to the shore, tried to do CPR, but Gilly wouldn't wake up. Or at least, that's what you told me. So, you dragged your half-dead body and this sack of potatoes all the way to my house, where you just completely collapsed on my doorstep. Scared the lights out of me, kiddo, but I'm glad you did it. Otherwise, both of you would have been dead before you could count to ten."

Matthew felt everything inside him break then. Those were lies. Lies, lies, lies. Unbeknownst to him, he had begun shaking as he held his head in his hands, whispering desperately to himself. Alfred's expression changed from one of happiness and pride to one of concern, while Gilbert only looked confused.

"Mattie? Mattie, are you okay? Are you in pain again?"

Matthew didn't hear this. All he heard were lies. The lies that they always told him. The lies that were meant to cushion his fall. "To protect you," they would say. He laughed. The only thing they were protecting was themselves. The lies weren't cushions; they were confinements, protecting those around him from his darker side. The side he didn't know about. The one he couldn't control. The one that both terrified and angered him.

But this time it was different. The lies weren't cushions or confinements, were they?

Only one way to check.

He reached up, through his light hair, touched his left eye. He felt a small smile grow on his lips, which only grew bigger when the pain returned.

It was Gilbert's voice that broke him out of his thought. "Matt, what's wrong? Alfred's getting the nurse, just wait. Matt, you're shaking like a leaf. And... are you talking to your self? Matt? Mattie! Hello~! Ma-"

Matthew suddenly reached out and pulled Gilbert down to eye level by the strings of his hoodie. A maniac smile outfitted his face, a crazed, yet pleased gleam in his eyes.

"Liaaarrr~"

"W-what?"

Matthew giggled. "You're a liar~!"

Gilbert pulled his strings away from Matthew and sent him a skeptical gaze. "Oh really? And what exactly did I lie about?"

"Everything! Everything is a lie here!"

Gilbert gave him a deadpan, 'really?' look. "Prove it."

Matthew smiled bigger and grabbed Gilbert's hand and forced it to touch his left eye. Gilbert's eyes widened when, instead of feeling a slimy eye, he felt an empty hole. Matthew dragged his hand down his face and he felt blood actively running down his face. He could see his eye, but it wasn't there.

"If this is real, then why can't I see out of my left eye. Why can I feel the cast on my arm? Why does everything hurt? Why, Gilbert?"

Gilbert's eyes narrowed, and he sent Matthew a smirk. Bingo, Matthew thought. This, this was the Gilbert Matthew knew. The one that thought everything was a joke, knew no other tone but sarcasm, and, most importantly, had red eyes.

"Good job, Mattie! I had no idea you were so smart!"

Matthew's smile reduced to a smirk. "How could you know? You were too busy admiring the sound of your own voice."

Gilbert gasped and put a hand over his heart in mock hurt. "Oh Mattie, you wound me so!" Matthew giggled at this. "So, if you're so clever, what is this? If it's not reality, then what is it?"

Matthew blushed, and glared at Gilbert. "If you dare make fun of me when I say this, then I will personally give away your position to the Hadean's every time, got it?"

Gilbert swallowed and nodded.

"It's a dream, isn't it?"

Gilbert's smirk returned. "Not exactly, sunshine. But good guess. Yes, you are asleep, but what you are seeing is not in your imagination. It's in mine."

Matthew frowned. "So this is your dream?"

"Daydream, really, but yes. It's dream transmission, like thought transmission. Basically, this is what you're gonna see when you wake up. Just thought I would prepare you a little."

"But...why does Alfred think I saved you? Where is the cut on his arm from before? And how can he see you?"

Gilbert sighed. "See, this is the hard part. I may not be classified as the devil's son anymore, but I am still a devil, and a powerful one at that, and full-fledged devils can take the form of humans if needed. Lovi, Hugo, and I will be taking these forms a lot. Lovi doesn't really like being human much, so he might hide in that locket or go ghostly on us a lot, but Hugo's fine with his skin."

"Wait, who's Hugo?"

"Wow, you really don't remember anything after the bridge, do ya?"

"No, I remember everything, that's why I asked," Matthew deadpanned.

Gilbert puffed out a cheek, put one hand on his hip, and wagged a scolding finger at him. "Don't use that tone with me! Anyway, what happened is that when Lovi pushed me off the bridge, I knew I wasn't gonna die, but you didn't. So, you told Lovi to get his butt in the locket, then jumped over the side of the bridge after me. You turned us away from the water, and when we hit, we both fainted. Lovi took us to the shore, but he couldn't give us CPR, so he found Hugo, this nameless homeless kid, and dragged him over to us to give us mouth-to-mouth or something. When you woke up, you thanked him up and down, but it was only halfway through you figured out that you were thanking him mentally. And that he could still hear yo-" Then Gilbert put a hand over his mouth like he had made a mistake.

"What was – is - he?"

Gilbert weakly laughed and wagged a finger at him jokingly. "It's a secret! Anyway, you couldn't walk, and I was pretty weak, too, so he dragged us to Alfie's house, picked his lock, and used his phone to call us an ambulance, and what do you know, we're back to present tense!"

Matthew was still curious about Hugo, but there was something else egging his conscience. "But what about Alfred?"

"When Alfred woke up at your house, he saw three things: your house was a mess, he was cut, and you were gone. So, he called the cops, patched up his arm, and took the first plane back home. He was more than a little surprised to find the American police waiting for him and telling him they found his brother. In a hospital. He freaked and drove straight to the hospital where he's been for the whole six days you've been unconscious. Now-"

"Wait, I've been unconscious for a week?"

"Minus a day, but yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I think it's time you woke up in the _real _world."

"Wait-"

Gilbert snapped and the entire room, along with Gilbert himself, disappeared. In the darkness, Matthew jumped when he started to hear voices. He felt an immense feeling of tiredness flow over him and he opened his eyes to view the people that had crowded around him.

He sighed. Here we go again.

Gilbert opened his eyes to a pair of eager, yet slightly ticked off orange ones.

"Didja tell 'im?"

Gilbert shook his head no and the boy, Hugo, pouted.

"Why nooot, Gilly? It's his world, he should know about iiittt~!"

Gilbert scoffed and flicked him in the middle of the forehead, getting a whine and a swipe at his arm for his "noble" efforts.

"Idiot. I can't tell him 'cause if I did…"

"What, he'd act different? Be all stuck up and snooty like Franny? Doubt it. I mean, look at 'im! He's so shy, he oozes modesty! If you told 'im, I doubt he'd do more than laugh it off and call ya a liar. An' even if he did believe ya, he'd probably just go back ta Euphoria and never come back."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Gilbert muttered, but not low enough, for Hugo pouted again and poked him in the cheek.

"Aww, c'mon Gilly, no frowning is allowed around me~! This is a no frown zone!", he said, making a box around himself and Gilbert, who had to laugh lightly at his childish efforts. "So what's got the mighty Gilbo so scared he's practically shivering in his boots, hmm?"

Gilbert puffed out one cheek and pouted. "I'm not 'shivering in my boots!' I'm not even wearing boots! The stupid nurse wouldn't let me put on anything except this weird blue outfit that makes me feel like a space monkey."

Hugo giggled but then scowled and hit his small fist against Gilbert's stomach. "Don't change tha subject, Gilbo! What's got ya, huh?"

Gilbert sighed, but gave in. "What's 'got me' is that he doesn't know! How does one not know that they have an entire world in the palm of their hand; an army that's always waiting and willing to break out and protect him at any instance? He's the ruler of Euphoria, yet he doesn't even realize-"

"That it's real. That _we're_ real. He's always been like that. He may have a million people behind him, waiting to catch him when he falls, help him back up, and defend him, yet… he always looks so _lonely_. I never understood it before, but now I do. It's because, to him, we're just voices in his head that he hears and images he pictures while playing that **stupid** piano. I used to hate it, how he seemed so much more attached to it then us. That he could only hear us through that. That he didn't know we even existed outside of that piano…" Hugo's large, lonely eyes gazed up at Gilbert's, and the devil wasn't surprised to see tears cascading down that small face. He didn't blame him. He knew what it was like to think someone was the most important thing in your world, only to find out that you weren't worth a grain of dust in theirs. "I just want him to know, Gil. I really do."

Gilbert sighed. He wanted to tell him. He really did. But what the kid didn't understand was that beneath his silly attitude and smirk, he was still a devil, and betraying his kingdom, even to a middle landlord, was still beyond even his imagination. But maybe one day…

Maybe one day he'd tell Matthew that he was the ruler of a kingdom called Euphoria (or Purgatory, to those pesky humans) and had been since he was born. That he wasn't related to those people who seemed so caring as they rushed into the hospital, calling his name over and over like a mantra. That he wasn't even human.

But today wasn't that day.

"How about I get ya an' ice cream er two an' we talk about what's goin' on this century. Ya know, just so you don't start ranting about Hitler mid-sentence. Didja know he died?"

And just like that, Hugo had completely forgotten what they were originally talking about. This was okay with Gilbert. He liked ice cream anyway.

Alfred hadn't left that E.R. room since the day he got there. He didn't need to. There was a bathroom in the room, plenty of walking space and people to talk to, and his father, Arthur, was more than happy to get him food. And when he said "more than happy," he meant that it was either Arthur got him food, or Alfred was perfectly content to just not eat at all. Ergo, Arthur brought him coffee and donuts every morning, McDonald's for lunch, and three bags of Cheetos and a movie for dinner. 'Cause, you know, that's healthy.

Therefore, Alfred found it incredibly ironic that the one time he decided to leave the room for a coffee refill was the exact moment that Matthew woke up.

Arthur, Matthew's uncle, was sitting on the side of his hospital bed, playing with his shoulder-length strawberry blond hair (as he had done frequently since getting the call from his son that his adorable nephew was in the hospital with injuries to rival a soldier and in a temporary coma) when Matthew's blue-violet eyes flickered open. He jumped slightly, then smiled widely.

"Matthew, my boy, you're back!"

Matthew groaned at his uncle's unconsciously loud voice and turned around, away from Arthur.

"Yes, I am. Now shut up and let me go back to sleep."

Arthur laughed and grabbed his nephew up in a hug, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. "Sorry, son, but I can't let that happen. If you go back to sleep... can you promise me you'll wake up again?"

Matthews eyes softened and he brought his unbroken arm up to hug Arthur back.

"I honestly don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Suddenly, Arthur pulled away, looking panicked. "W-well, we can't let you sleep without letting everyone know you woke up in the first place, and that includes your cousin."

Matthew groaned. "Really?"

Arthur laughed. "Really, Matt. He's been so worried over you, he never leaves. He stays in this room from day to night."

Matthew arched a skeptical brow. "Then where is he now?"

"He's getting his third coffee in the past two hours since he woke up. It's surprising he hasn't began bouncing off the walls, what with all the coffee he consumes."

Matthew gave a dry chuckle. "Doesn't surprise me, really. He drinks more coffee than I drink hot chocolate."

Arthur got up and moved toward the door. "Speaking of, do you want me to get you a cup while I go get that lazy son of mine?"

Matthew tilted his head to each side, thinking it over. "Umm, sure. Why not?"

"One for me too, please."

Matthew turned to look at the other occupants of the room curiously as Arthur dashed from the room to get his overly energetic son. He wasn't really to surprised to see his other uncle, Adrian, had fallen asleep in his seat with a cigarette in his mouth, though it was amusing. Matthew's friend, Ivan, was sitting with his wife, bouncing their nine-year-old son on his leg. Ace, their son, was nodding off and hugging his stuffed polar bear to his chest lightly. When he saw Matthew smiling at them, he smiled back and waved, turning around to alert his father of his friend's awakening.

"Papa, papa, Who's up!"

Matthew laughed breathily at the child's nickname. Ever since the two had met, they had become good friends. But, unfortunately, Ace had been too young to pronounce Matthew's name right, so he had resorted to calling him "Who." In return, Matthew never pronounced his bear's name, Kumajirou, right. For some reason, the nicknames had stuck.

Ivan chuckled at his son's antics and ruffled his silvery white hair before taking him off his lap and setting Ace in his chair as he got up and walked over to the bed.

"Matvey! Welcome back."

Matthew smiled warmly at his friend. "Thank you, Ivan. It means a lot to me that you came."

Ivan's laugh echoed through the room. "How could I not? You came for me when I broke my leg during our hockey match."

"Yes, but I was the one that broke it."

"Oh yes, I remember that! You couldn't stop apologizing! I couldn't decide which was worse; the pain in my leg, or the constant 'sorry's being thrown in my face. In fact, you were more in tears than I was!"

Matthew pouted. "Was not!"

"Were to~!"

"Not!"

"To!"

"Not!"

"To!"

"No-"

"MATTIE!"

Both glared at the door which had been thrown open to reveal a heavily panting, yet smiling, Alfred. He ignored the glares and tired glances he got and rushed forward, grabbing his cousin into a gigantic, life-threateningly tight bear hug.

"Al..I can't-"

"MATTIEMATTIEMATTIE! Oh my gosh, they weren't joking! You really are alive!"

"AL! I CAN'T BREATHE!"

Alfred quickly let go of the smaller male, causing him to fall back and begin breathing deeply. When he had enough breath to speak, he hit Alfred upside the head.

"Ow! Mattie! What was that for?"

"For almost killing me!"

"Me! What about you? One moment I'm making you pancakes, the next, I'm waking up on the floor of your hallway, bleeding and covered in glass. And no you! Where did you go, Mattie? What happened?"

Matthew was blown away by the emotion in his cousin's words and eyes. He was really worried about him. "I... don't know. I can't remember. All I remember was waking up in the middle of a road. A man with white hair and red eyes dragged me out and said my arm got ran over and I was missing an eye. He said I was burnt really bad somehow. He was sitting on the rail when he fell. I didn't think, just... jumped. After that, it's all gone."

It was silent for a while, until Katyusha, Ivan's wife and a nurse working at the hospital he was currently resting in, smiled politely. "Would you like to see the man you saved?"

Matthew seemed to think about it for a while, then nodded. He began trying to get out of the bed, but he was pushed back by Arthur, who smiled at him before kicking Adrian awake and yelling at him to get a wheelchair for Matthew.

"I can walk, Arthur. I'm fi-"

"Not with those burns, you can't. You said it yourself, your body is littered with cuts and bruises. I'm not letting those feet touch this ground until I'm sure they can support you comfortably."

"Art's right, laddie. Ya need ta relax. What, with those injuries, I'd say you've got 'bout two more weeks a pamperin' 'fore your even allowed to sit up in bed by yourself," Adrian said, lighting his cigarette and pushing the newly acquired wheelchair to Matthew's bedside and reaching to help Matthew into it. His hand was pushed away by Alfred who picked Matthew up bridal style and gently rested him in the wheelchair. He grabbed the handles and began pushing his cousin down the hall. He was halfway down the hall before he realized he didn't know where he was going.

Leaving the room for the second time, this time with instructions and a guide (aka Ace, who was surprisingly good at finding his way around the large hospital), they quickly arrived in front of a hospital room. Matthew took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Nothing. He knocked again. Again, nothing.

"G-Gilbert?"

"Yeah?"

The three turned around to see Gilbert, dressed in a blue hospital gown and sweats. He was sucking on an ice cream and Hugo, dressed just like in the dream, was holding his hand, also licking an ice cream. Hugo gasped and dropped his ice cream at seeing the three of them. He ran straight at Ace and, with a flying leap, glomped him.

"Acey pie!"

Ace groaned and frowned down at Hugo, who was a whole two heads shorter. "Hugo, get off of me before I force you off."

Hugo looked up and frowned. "Aww, Acey~! You're so mean to Hugo!"

Ace's frown was lessened slightly, and one of the corners of his mouth twitched upward. "Then you're a masochist."

Hugo smiled flirtatiously. "Does that make you Hugo's sadist?"

Ace's frown returned full force, along with a lovely little blush. He looked Hugo straight in the eye, grabbed his arms, picked him up, and carried him to Matthew, putting the little boy in his lap.

"Say hi. This is-"

Hugo turned around and gasped at Matthew before throwing his arms around his neck.

"MATTIE!"

Matthew sweat dropped and patted the child's back. "That's me. Hello to you too, Hugo."

Hugo gasped again and looked up at him with big, hopeful orange eyes (or eye, as he couldn't see the other one over his hair). "You remember Hugo?"

Matthew smiled weakly. "A little. Just your name and face." At this point, he glared at Gilbert, who held his hands up in defense. "And that Gilbert wanted to name you Gilbird, after his 'awesome self.'"

"Hey! I think Gilbird is an awesome name!"

Matthew scoffed. "Yeah, for, like, a goldfish, but a human? Really?"

"How is Gilbird a goldfish name?"

"I don't know, don't ask me! I'm not the one who was so arrogant that they wanted to name a small, innocent little boy after himself!"

"Oh, like you're much better! You-you-you..."

Matthew crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, a small smile detailing his lips. "Well? Go on. I...what, Gilbert?"

Gilbert was red-faced and looking around, as if the answer was somewhere floating in the air. Alfred stifled a laugh, remembering how many times Matthew had done this to him and his friends, making a fool of them by completely destroying their defenses and pushing them into a corner. Ace smirked, clearly enjoying seeing this man hiss and spit out meaningless words as he searched for a way out of the hole he had dug for himself. Hugo frowned, not understanding what was going on. He shrugged before taking out a lollipop.

Gilbert, finally giving up, turned to Hugo, a pleading look on his face. "Hugo! Help me out here, little man!"

Hugo looked up at Gilbert and smiled. "Hugo likes Mattie!"

Matthew blushed; Alfred laughed; Ace yawned; and Gilbert groaned. "C'mon kid! What about me?"

Hugo began to climb off of Matthew's lap but reached back to hug him one more time, then skipped over to Gilbert, holding out his arms in a "hold me!" type of gesture. Gilbert glared down at him for a minute, but soon succumbed to those orange orbs, picking him up. Hugo hugged his neck, kissed his cheek, then loudly proclaimed, "Hugo loves Gilbert mostest!"

Gilbert smiled brightly, then smirked at Matthew, sticking out his tongue. "Beat that!"

Ace frowned and kissed a blushing Matthew on the cheek. "I love Who."

Hugo pouted, kicking and screaming until a confused Gilbert let him go. He then proceeded to whine at Ace, asking him why he didn't love Hugo. Gilbert turned to the child, raising an eyebrow. "'Who?' Who's 'who?'"

Matthew grumbled and raised his hand. "I'm who. It's kind of a nickname."

"Ah. Anyway, care to introduce me to your escorts? _Other_ than 'the Hero?'"

Matthew sent him a questioning look but wasn't able to ask because of an interruption from Alfred.

"What's with the quotation marks, man? I'm a total hero an' you know it!"

"Oh, really? And tell me, just what have you managed to 'save,' hmm?"

"I saved a bird once! And I save Mattie all the time!"

"Oh, really? From what, sanity?"

"No! Boredom! He's like a frickin' hermit! Never goes outside er nothing!"

"Well, I'd do the same if you were the only person I ever saw!"

"Whatcha tryin' ta say, li'l man?"

By now they were nose to nose, and if Matthew didn't know better, he would have said a fight was going to break out. But if there was one thing he knew, it was Alfred and his hero complex. And, in Alfred's opinion, heroes didn't start the fight - they ended it. And threw the first punch, which was pretty much like starting it in Matthew's opinion. Which sucked, in Alfred's opinion.

But even though Matthew knew this, Adrian didn't, and neither did the two children now arm wrestling on the side of Matthew's wheelchair.

"Oi, girlies! Stop your cat fight already and tell me who exactly this albino terminator is! Artie confiscated my smokes, and I need to get 'em back pronto, so can we hurry this along?"

Gilbert turned away from his staring contest with Alfred to face Adrian and smirked in what he would call a charming way. "My name is Gilbert, Gilly, Gil-Gil, Gilbo, whatever. The fact remains that you're in dire need of cigarettes; Alfred's in dire need of a life and a bath, from where I'm standing; Hugo needs more candy; Ace needs to head back to his dad before he explodes; and I need to talk to Matthew. So! If you'd all hurry yourselves to wherever you need or want to be, please and thank you, have a nice day!" he said as he gathered up all the individuals sharing their space and shoved them out of the hallway, where they all shrugged their shoulders and did just that.

Back in the hallway outside of Gilbert's room, Gilbert unlocked his door and pushed Matthew and his wheelchair inside before shutting the door behind him and collapsing on his bed. It was silent for a while before Matthew broke it.

"So…what now? I can't even walk or see out of one eye; you're on the run; and Lovi's…where is Lovi?"

"Here and present," came a call from the corner of the room, where Lovi was huddled up in a chair, hazel eyes locked on the screen of a Nintendo DS with the concentration one would give a study guide before a test. He was wearing a green neck scarf, a white shirt with a shadow tree at the bottom, a black jacket, and a pair of pants. "And you ain't goin anywhere, peachy! You're gonna stay right here until you can stand without a frickin' chair to help ya do it! And then, we're leaving."

Matthew chuckled, used to Lovino's bossy nature. "So I'm guessing this is your human - no, your 'crown' form, correct? Quite… modest. Unlike everyone else, you wouldn't really stand out in a crowd. Though, I guess that's the point, right? And where are we going?"

Lovino groaned and threw the game system on the dingy hospital bed in frustration. "That's just it! We don't know where we're gonna go yet! Or how we're gonna get their for that matter!"

Suddenly a thought occurred to Matthew. "Well… we could go to one of my uncle's homes in the Isles, would that work?"

Gilbert sat up, his face alight with glee. "Bingo, kiddo~! For once, you're useful! Which reminds me…"

Gilbert got up and walked over to Lovino, whispering something in his ear that made him send a curious look Matthew's way, shrug, then leave the room, Gilbert waving and saying "too-de-loo~" merrily behind him. He waited until the door closed to turn to Matthew and smirk quite scarily, although, that's just what Matthew was used to.

"Well, Mr. Williams! Quite a long ways you've come, hmm? Well, I can't say that you're pleased with the direction, but maybe this will cheer up your impending doom - I mean journey. As a former devil, I still have all the powers of a devil. Ergo, like most creatures not of this world, I am able to manipulate things here to my advantage, but also to the advantage of others."

"So basically, you're saying that you can grant wishes and are willing to give me one because I saved you and will be continuing to save you on this long 'journey' you appear to have taken me hostage for? Is that it?"

Gilbert tilted his head from side to side for a minute, as if deciding. "Yeah, pretty much. So, what can the fairy godmother do fer ya this fine evenin', pumpkin?"

"One, don't do that. Ever. Second…. Really, I just don't want to be alone again. Not like now. Not like ever." His mouth said he was lonely, but his eyes said he was confused. He wanted answers just as much as Gilbert wanted to give them, but unfortunately, Matthew seemed to be destined to be clueless forever.

Then, something occurred to Gilbert. As much as he'd mentioned his uncles and his cousins and his friends, he never mentioned his family. "Where's your family, kid? What 'bout them?"

Matthew scoffed, but his eyes shined with dark memories, dredged up from an even darker past. "That in there is my family. Arthur, Adrian, Alfred - even Ivan and Katyusha and Ace are considered family, no matter how much Alfred wishes it weren't so-"

"You know that's not what I'm talking 'bout, Matt."

Matthew sent him a glare for a moment before he sighed, giving in.

"Mom and Dad are gone, have been since I was six, and they died in a car crash, along with half my childhood and innocence. Arthur was busy with Alfred and one nasty divorce after another at the time; Adrian was busy getting drunk; and Auntie Clem was busy writing, traveling, and running away from her publisher. No one really wanted or had time for me, so, after half a year of court waiting room walls being my only company, my dad's inherited lawyer dragged up my Uncle Francis. Uncle Francis was artistic, creative, funny, and my one and only friend in those days." He smiled lightly here, then he sighed and rubbed his temples.

"But he was also an alcoholic. He was a mopey drunk, always complaining and doing reckless things. I was terrified he would go out with one of his friends for a drink and never come back. Or worse, have the police come back again, telling me that yet another person I truly loved had passed on without me. And one day, he did. Except, it wasn't like I thought. He'd had a bad breakup with this pretty, tanned girl with black hair and a smile to rival the sun. She was always nice, but one day she admitted to cheating on him and broke up with Uncle Francis for her.

"….Uncle Francis went drinking, just like every other time a girl would break up with him or he would break up with them, but when he didn't come back, I feared the worst. I waited in the living room all night without sleeping, and a night turned into a day, and a day, a week, and a week turned a month, until finally, a year later, that dreaded police visit came. They told me that they found Uncle Francis, a robbed and gutted corpse in some abandoned alleyway. I wasn't even allowed to see the body."

Gilbert, like the polite audience he could be, nodded, a worried yet interested expression adorning his face. "What happened after that?"

Matthew was silent for a second. "My Uncle Arthur and his brothers took care of me, which is why Alfred often calls me his brother. They were nice, but… they forgot about me a lot."

"Why? You don't seem so forgettable."

"It's the differences that made me unnoticeable. Whereas I was a fairly happy and talkative child before, I became a bit of a recluse after Uncle Francis's death. I stopped smiling. I stopped caring. I was probably the first ten-year-old to ever attempt suicide, and while I'd love to tell you that was the only time, it wasn't. It wasn't even the worst. At thirteen, I was already a member of a local mental institute and had had about six therapists, all of which I had either depressed to the point that they needed therapists or cursed them out of their jobs. I was pretty messed up, but I found solace in writing, much like my Auntie Clementine. I scrapped enough of a story to publish it and it became mildly popular, as it got me the money to buy back Uncle Francis's house, where I live now."

It was silent for a minute before Gilbert sighed and got up, pushing the boy's wheelchair out of the room and toward the elevator.

"Wait, what? Gilbert, what are you doing?"

Gilbert bent over the wheelchair so he was looking Matthew in the eye, albeit upside down. "I'm taking you to the rooftop."

"Why?"

"Because I can and there's something I wanna show you."

"On the rooftop?"

"Yes, on the rooftop, now stop arguing and let me do this one thing for you, okay?"

Matthew crossed his arms, grumbling, but nodded. Gilbert smiled and, just in the nick of time, the elevator's door dinged and opened onto the rooftop, which was covered with birds. Gilbert tried to shoo them off, but either they didn't care or were too fat and lazy to move anyway. So, Gilbert concluded, the only way to get them off would be to run screaming through the rows of birds, hoping that would scare them off. Which it did, and was also quite enjoyable for Matthew, which was a bonus.

Gilbert, after scaring off or pushing off every last bird, pushed Matthew's wheel chair close to the edge of the rooftop, observing the setting sun, the talking pedestrians, and the speeding cars bellow. It all looked so small, like Matthew could just reach down and pick up a car or squash a person like an ant. But he knew better than to try. He'd done that already.

The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a while, observing their surroundings and, though they had both seen this many times before, it was somehow different with the other there. But all good things come to an end. Matthew was just glad that this was a good end.

"Do you see that big yellow thing in the sky?" Gilbert asked Matthew, pointing to said 'big yellow thing.'

Matthew snorted. "You mean the sun?"

"Yep! Well then, the sun will be there for as long as you remain, right?"

"Most likely, yes. Why?"

"I'm gonna be your sun. I'll be there every day and every night until you're sick and tired of me. I'll make sure that you never feel lonely again, and I promise, I won't die on you. I swear on the big yellow floating balloon in the sky!"

Matthew giggled, but his eyes softened as he looked at it, then back at Gilbert. "I'd like that."

"Good, 'cause that's what yer gonna get, lollipop! Now that I've mentioned food, I feel the need to eat. Again. Gosh, human forms take so much fuel, don't they?"

Matthew chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I suppose they do. What do you recommend on the gross menu of old people food?"

"I recommend you call Arthur and ask him to order a pizza. Anything that someone as polite as you calls a menu of gross old people food must be pretty bad."

Matthew laughed and couldn't help but wonder when the last time he'd laughed this much was. He couldn't remember. But when he looked into those gleaming red eyes and that, for once genuine, smile, he couldn't help but think that it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was here, with this strange, arrogant, infuriating, yet wonderful man, and that he wasn't dead yet.

"Agreed, but I get dibs on pepperoni."

Gilbert nodded, humming some ludicrous tune under his breath as they headed back to the elevators. "Anything else for our one-eyed prince?"

"Yes, maybe an attitude change for the albino terminator? Please and thank you."

"If anyone's rude, its you."

"Touché."

Now as they reached their floor, one thought ran through both of their heads simultaneously; _this isn't going to be pretty._


	4. Chapter 4 Bruised

Chapter 4: Bruised

"**BRUISED" IS BY JACK'S MANNEQUIN**

(A/N) #1: I am a worthless deadbeat. I am not worth your praise and thanks. I suck.

Why?

BECAUSE I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A MONTH! Oh, you poor babies! You must have been so confused without my wonderful stories clouding your brain! I blame school. School is to blame. Anyway, I have a proposition to make you Earthlings! Here're your choices: I update ungodly long chappies, like, once a month OR I update everything I've got at the end of a week or two depending on how long I want it to be. When (and if) you review this, if you would kindly tell me what you think of this update system, I would be happier than a narwhal! This would be about the length of a normal chappie if I went with the second option ^^

Anyway, I love and miss you all and I don't own diddlysquat of this. 'Cept the plot, o' course~

"NO!"

Hugo's cries of panicked disapproval reverberated throughout the terminal.

"Hue, come on, you'll see him again, just get on the-"

"NO! Hugo don't wanna leave Acey!"

Matthew groaned and pulled harder on the small blond, who had curled himself around Ace's leg and had henceforth refused to let go.

No matter how hard Ace kicked him.

After about ten minutes of pleading, Matthew had resorted to pulling him off, but, obviously, that was just as useless.

Arthur and Alfred were on a different plane (you can't even imagine how much convincing it took to get Alfred to get on and let go of Matthew), Adrian was already in his seat, and Lovino and Gilbert were...helping.

If you call yelling and cursing (from Lovino) and laughing and wolf-whistling at him every time he bent over (from Gilbert) helping.

"Tell him to get his fluffy little tush over here before I royally screw him up!"

Needless to say, they were attracting some attention. Already, Lovi had gotten in three fights, and from the looks the mother in the business suit was giving them as she got on, there was soon to be a fourth.

Matthew sighed again and glared at Gilbert.

"A little help here, Mr. Oh-So-Perfect?"

Gilbert hummed a response from his spot sitting on the top ladder of the plane entrance. "No thanks, engel, I quite like the view from here. And thanks for noticing, sweetie~!"

Mattthew stood up and walked off, a prominent blush on his cheeks.

"I GIVE UP! Gilbert, you try getting him off!"

The door to the plane slammed shut as a furious Matthew kicked Gilbert off the edge of the door, then grabbed Lovino and dragged him inside.

Gilbert sighed and rubbed his hurt tush, glaring at the door. He walked over to Hugo and Ace, the latter of whom was desperately trying to shake him off and yelling childish insults at him. Gilbert tugged roughly on the back of his jacket, getting a teary-eyed glance from the boy before he went back to mumbling "no"s into Ace's jeans.

Gilbert sighed again, but then an idea occurred to him. He bent down and whispered into Hugo's ear, "If you let him go and get on the plane, I'll tell Matt about Euphoria."

Gilbert knew he had won when he heard the sharp intake of breathe and saw his shaking stop. Hugo looked back at him skeptically, frowning. "For real? You're serious? When?"

Ace frowned now too. "When what?"

Gilbert smiled and ruffled Ace's hair and sent a cool glance to Hugo.

"Hugo here has been begging all week to go to Germany, because he thinks that's where he came from. I told him no, because we might not have enough money, but if he gets on the plane and behaves, I'll find the money to take him within a month or so."

Hugo thought about the hidden answer to his question for a while before nodding and climbing off Ace. He stood up and stretched, then grabbed Gilbert's hand and the two began walking off. It was only a few steps away when suddenly, they heard, "Wait!"

The two looked over to see Ace, blushing and shuffling his feet, holding his arms open for a hug. Hugo gasped and let go of Gilbert, running over to Ace and shooting into his embrace.

"Hugo's gonna miss you, Acey."

Ace showed a rare smile, ruffling his hair. "Ace is gonna miss Hugo too."

Hugo smiled and backed away, bending down and kissing Kumajirou on the forehead before walking back to Gilbert, waving and smiling the entire way. Gilbert gave him a stern look before sighing and picking him up, then walking the rest of the way to the plane, not once looking back.

Matthew sighed as he leaned back in his seat, smiling and waving at Lovino as he headed to his own seat. When Lovino disappeared from sight, he turned to look out the window. He smiled at the image of Hugo giving his friend one last hug and rushing back inside with Gilbert. Just before they came back in, Matthew swore Gilbert looked up at him and winked, causing Matthew to blink and blush a little bit. Stupid jerk.

He huffed and turned to the empty seat next to him. It appeared that the seat would remain unfilled, but then a dark-haired, tan-skinned woman in a blue dress sat next to him. She slumped down into the seat with an exhausted sigh, then smiled over at him.

She had bright green eyes and a dazzling smile. Matthew couldn't help but smile back, albeit a little bit shyly.

"Planes, huh? You'd think they'd make things easier on you, what with how expensive it is to fly nowadays."

Matthew laughed. "Yep. But you know what they say about assumptions."

The girl giggled and stuck a hand in Matthew's direction. "Phoebe, but you can call me Phee."

Matthew shook her hand nervously and smiled. "Ma-"

That was all he could get out before, yet again, that blackness he'd been feeling for days pulse. Really, he'd felt it for years, and if he was being honest with himself, it was probably the first feeling he had, before even love or fear had settled itself into his tiny, childish heart. He retracted his hand and put it on his heart. He grimaced and barely contained a groan.

"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked, shooting Matthew a concerned look.

Matthew looked at her and gave a shaky, unreassuring smile and opened his mouth to reply in the affirmative, but he had to turn his head as another wave of pure, black pain encompassed him. He bent over now, holding his stomach and moaning in agony.

Phoebe hesitantly raised a hand and rubbed soothing circles onto Matthew's back. "H-hey now, relax dear, shhh. We-we'll get you some help okay, just-"

The blackness was now more of an unending cyclone of hurt, and he began coughing into his hand violently. When he pulled it away, blood was spilling out of it and onto the floor.

Suddenly he couldn't hear Phoebe rushing away from him and behind the curtains, yelling for help. All he could hear was the rushing of blood in his ears and the beating of his heart. It seemed much too fast for him.

_**"You know, this would all be so much simpler if you would just give in already."**_

Matthew's head shot up and he looked around, trying to find out where the voice had come from. He groaned as a fierce headache burned into him. He held his head, his hand falling over the white bandage over his left eye.

"Lovi?", he grunted out.

The voice snorted. _**"Hardly. C'mon boy, think deeper. You know me."**_

Matthew thought. "Gilbert?"

If this voice had a face, it was most definitely rolling its eyes. _**"You really are an idiot, aren't you?Look in the mirror, boy!"**_

Matthew huffed and thought over those words. Mirror, mirror, mirror... Realization hit him like a missile; his eyes widened and his skin paled in thinly veiled horror.

"No...no, no, it can't be. Not again," he whispered hoarsely.

The voice chuckled darkly and purred, _**"Wow. It really took you that long? I must have been gone longer than I thought."**_

"Oh god, why couldn't you stay that way. You...monster..," Matthew moaned, not even listening as Phoebe rushed back into the now empty plane, looking just as terrified as Matthew, though for different reasons.

"Sir, sir, I can't find anyone! Wh-where did they go? There was a whole plane of people here and now they're-"

_**"Oh, I see you've been busy! Quite a lovely choice, might I add. Although, you could have gone for someone quieter, couldn't you?"**_

"S-shut up and get lost, demon."

"Excuse me!" yelled Phoebe, mistaking Matthew's insults to the blackness within him to her. Normally, this would have bothered Matthew, and he would have felt compelled to apologize, even though it wasn't his fault, but now... Now, he was just tired.

So very tired.

_**"See! You're already too weak to stand! You'll kill yourself - and me, I might add - if you keep this up! Just. Give. In!"**_

"N-never..." But even as he said that, he felt his consciousness slip away until all he could see was the back of his eyelids and all he could hear was the soothing sounds of his heartbeat.

Adrian climbed into the front seat of the taxi and lit what was surely his third cigarette since that morning. In his mind, he deserved it. He slumped back down and hung his arm out the open window, watching as the town they'd landed in disappeared behind the speeding car. He turned to look behind him, taking in his nephew and his friends.

Gilbert and Hugo were playing cards, a skill Hugo had fast learned before he had cheated nearly half of the hospital out of candy money. It was hard to say, but if Adrian were a betting man (which he was), he'd bet all his beer money on Gilbert. That is, if Hugo decided to play fair. Lovino was having a rather one sided argument on modern technology with Matthew, who was absentmindedly staring out the window of the cab, humming every once and awhile to prove he was listening.

Adrian smirked at the quartet and asked what everyone was thinking. "So, how did you enjoy your first plane ride?"

Lovino paused in his argument to glare at him. "Awful! The lady on my right apparently decided that I looked like the perfect person to dump her entire life story on, and the twerp on the left of me kept asking about his math homework. So, I took his pencil, broke it in half, then threatened to shove it up his tuckus if he didn't shut up." Lovino smirked here. "Needless to say, it was a fairly quiet flight after that."

Adrian laughed aloud, then turned to Gilbert. "And you?"

Gilbert scoffed. "Don't remind me, man! That thing's like a bus with wings; it's stuffy, its either too cold or too hot, and it's full of idiots! The only difference is that instead of busting my ear drums with their loudness, which I can handle, the dolts in my section hardly spoke! I tried to ask about food, and they shushed me! Shushed me! Can you believe that, Addie?"

Adrian snickered. "Yes I can, Gilly. You don't exactly know now to whisper at all."

Gilbert scoffed. "So? They still shouldn't have shushed me! Don't they know not to upset a de-"

Hugo subtly stopped his friend from giving away too much via a quick jab from his elbow to Gilbert's stomach. Gilbert held his middle and glared at the small child while he beamed up at Adrian and told him how he fell asleep and the nice lady in the dress gave him a cookie. Adrian smiled down at him, nodding and humming every once in a while, much like his nephew.

"Ya know, Hugo, I think you'll really love my sons. They're a bit older than you - 'bout nine er so, but they love running around and getting themselves, and others, no doubt, in trouble. Maybe you can help 'em shape up a bit. Or at least find better hiding places for their firecrackers."

A sparkle formed in Hugo's eyes. "Fireworks?"

"Yep! They spend all their allowance on that crap just so they can blow it up once a week, get grounded, sulk until the weekend, then start all over!"

Hugo giggled. "Sounds like fun!"

"Yep! Now, I'll warn ya, my eldest, Noah, is quite the violent little squirt. He may seem quiet and sweet when ya first meet 'im, but I'd keep a close eye on yer wallet. And that's coming from his father!"

Gilbert looked over at Lovino, who smirked back in a strangely proud-like way. Clearly, that was his doing.

"And the other, Abbot, he's a doll. Cute as a button, proba'lly a year or two older than Hugo here, and a speed demon if I ever saw one. Gilbert, you'd like the lad; he talks just as loud as you do! Proba'lly got it from his Aunt- Oh, that reminds me; my sister, Clementine, is here, so I'd recommend making coffee as soon as we get there. No doubt she's in bed with a hangover, having the brats do all the work for her. I swear, that lady is-"

"Adrian?"

"Huh?"

"We're here."

"Uhh, I know. I knew that."

Adrian quickly climbed out of the cab, tipping the driver and bidding him a good day. He dug through his pockets and pulled out his keys, tossing them to Gilbert to open the door. Adrian turned to Matthew, who was quietly staring at the trees and the house as he approached it.

"Hey, Matt?"

Matthew whipped his head up and looked up at his Uncle. "Yeah?"

"I forgot to ask, but how was your flight? Eye giving you any more grief?"

Matthew stopped walking and was silent a minute before smiling and walking again. "Nah, I fell asleep, too. Although, I did meet a nice girl- Phoebe, was it? Well, it's a shame we won't meet again. She'd have made a grand friend."

Adrian nodded, but couldn't stop himself from shaking as shivers ran down his spine. Why did that name seem so familiar? And why did Matthew's normally sweet smile put him so on edge?

(A/N) #2: Okay, so I love double Author's Rants C: It's like getting a whole bag of M&M Share Packages ALL TO YOURSELF :D You know you agree with me.

Anyway, since any time I put a thing like this on FB, no one responds, I will try putting it here and see what I get ^^

I, Persphone Z. Quest, am on an epic journey through time and space (read: the interwebs) to find the creepiest, crawliest, grossest, scariest, makes-you-pee-your-pants-and-call-yer-mummy scary story EVER! I myself have found a few sites with promising material, but I wanna hear what YOU think! What's the scariest thing you've heard? It doesn't have to be real, just creepy C: (Pans luvs the creepy~). SO, when you review, just send me a link to what YOU think is the scariest story EVA! In return, I'll send you a few nightmare-inducing tales meself! Winner gets... A STORY! I dunno 'bout what. Maybe I'll write up one a' the scary one's I make up (I'm a fairly good story teller, I like to think. According to my brother I am.)

Anyway, I wish you all fun, sun, and rhymes-a-plenty~

Quizically, Pans


	5. Chapter 5 The Two Sides of M Valentine

**Chapter 5 **(are we at five already now? Huzzah!)**: The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine**

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><p>(AN): Just so ya know, Hugo is about seven, Ace is nine, Abbot is ten or eleven, and Noah is about thirteen, maybe a year or two older, whatever's more realistic ^^

ALSO! A bunch of you noticed how fail-o-rific the last chappie was so I'd like to introduce a new member of my story writing process; my amazing and talented Beta, Pantomime Banjo~! (Banjo: Hi. ouo) She has already fixed all of the later chapters (except I lost the first chapter's edit so it'll probably just stay the way it is), so if you were uber confused on one and wanna go back and recheck to see that I didn't just goof up (yet again), it will be sparkly clean and legible just for you dear readers :D

WHAT IS THAT? PANS IS UPLOADING ON A NEW AND THOROUGH SCHEDUAL? WHAT NONSENSE~! But no, for serious, after the few people who actually read and care about my A/Ns and told me what they think about a new uploading format, I will now be uploading once every week or two, but they won't be as long as they used to (sorry~)

DISCLAIMER: Sorry, I know this is shocking, but I don't own Hetalia. I also don't own "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine." Spoon does, and I wouldn't have it any other way C:

REMEMBER TO REVIEW OTHERWISE I ASSUME YOU HATE ME AND MY STORY AND THEN I BURN DOWN YOUR HOUSE C: Hahahaha, but seriously. Review or die.

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><p>"Auntie Clem, when is Daddy coming back?"<p>

Noah Kirkland continued writing in his journal, nonchalance oozing off him like oxygen. "Abby, what did I tell you about calling Dad, 'Daddy?'"

Abbot pouted. "That it's for babies and dummies."

"Exactly. And how does that reflect on me, again?"

Abbot slumped further into his rickety orange chair at the dining table as they waited for their aunt to finish making lunch. Or brunch, really, considering they had skipped breakfast due to their eccentric Aunt's hangover from a long night of partying. Probably celebrating yet another day of being off the radar of her publisher with her editor and cover artist.

"Badly," he grumbled.

Noah looked up and gave Abbot a small smile and a pat on the head as he dug out a piece of chocolate and tossed it to him across the table. "Good boy."

Abbot beamed and unwrapped the chocolate, just about to put it in his mouth when-

"I'll be taking that, sweetie pie!" Aunt Clementine exclaimed as she swooped in and stole the chocolate right out of Abbot's hand, eliciting a whine from the small boy.

"But Auntie Clem-"

"No buts! And you sir," she dashed to the other side of the table, plucking the journal out of Noah's grappling hands. "are in big trouble. What did I tell you about treating your brother like a dog?"

Noah glared at her as he stood on his chair to try to reach the book. After a few stubborn moments, Noah plopped back down with a sigh.

"Not to."

Aunt Clementine smiled, slipping the chocolate into her mouth as she walked back into the kitchen, journal in hand. "Exactly. Now! I believe that you both have homework to do? Yes? Then hop to it! Maybe if you get finished before dinner, we'll have time to watch a movie when your Daddy gets home."

Abbot gasped, dirty blond hair flopping wildly as he jumped down from his chair and dashed into the kitchen after her. Noah sulked in his seat, hearing his brother blubber mindlessly about what movies to watch and what popcorn to make that night. On the outside, it may have looked like he was simply angry. But on the inside? Noah was furious.

"If Icky decided to go trigger happy with his Python and got us caught, I'll personally shove it down his throat."

Noah suddenly felt his entire system go cold. What if he did get caught? Would his father, the chief of police, really arrest him? Would he run him out? Disown him? Would he even care?

Noah relaxed soon after.

He scoffed and stood up, slouching as he walked down the maze of halls over to his and his brother's room. He grabbed his gun, a Desert Eagle 6 inch and his most prized possession, and his phone out from under his pillow on the bottom bunk. Abbot knew about the gun after finding him sleeping with it once, but the phone was new.

He flipped it open and speedily typed out the keys to his "friend's" number as he walked slowly back down the hall and down the stairs to the front door. He lifted the curtains once, twice, trice, but found no trace of his father. Noah knew his father, and this had the stench of cop business all over it.

After about three curse-filled tries, three equally censored voice messages, and about half an hour's worth of pacing and checking the window, someone picked up.

"Helloooo! This be Lexly's Auto shop! Ya rang?"

"Icky, oh-ho-ho-ho Icky, Icky, Icky~" Noah eerily taunted.

"Oh, boss! Hey Lex, it's the boss! Oh, uh, he sounds kinda pissed…Boss?"

"Icky, bunny, you _really_ messed up this time," Noah ground out through his teeth, a vicious smile on his face. "You're just so lucky I'm not there right now or you'd be-"

"B-boss, what's goin' on, eh? I ain't done noffin' an you're jus' freakin' out!"

Noah snapped. "What do you mean, 'I ain't done nothing?' My dad went to check up on my cousin _a month ago_. I seriously doubt he was in that bad of an accident that the chief of police would be willing to put _Eddy_ of all people in charge for a **whole bloody month**. Now, you have two options, you can either confess and take your punishment willingly, like a man, or hold out on me and hope that your punishment _after_ I torture your failure of henchman-ship out of you won't be death."

Icky let out a whimper and then began frantically crying, apparently tossing the phone to Lexly as he ran from the room because a slightly deeper voice filled Noah's end of the receiver after.

"What did you do to the idiot, Nono?"

Noah grimaced. "Don't call me that. And you wanna know what he did? My dad has been gone for far too long for my liking, and it really wouldn't surprise me if it was all that idiot bunny's fault, what with his stupid Python that he totes around like he was freakin' born with-"

A sigh interrupted him. "Noah, listen, I know that bunny isn't really a genius, but you two have got to learn to get along long enough for me to earn us some money _legally_. And, just so you know, I've had my eye on that kid, and he's been nothing but stupid all week. If he'd done anything, it's all over with now, anyway, so just forget it and wait on Daddy Dearest to come home with a lollipop for ya, mkay?"

"Sure, sure, whatever, but- Hey, wait, my father does not-"

"Haha, calm down li'l guy! So, how is that li'l brother a' yours doin', hmm?"

Noah sighed and walked over to the door again, lifting the curtain just a bit to peak out. "Same old, same old, I guess. He's still taking his meds, if that's what you mean. I'm… just worried about him is all. I mean, he's so small and gullible; he's already got himself in with the wrong crowd, what if-"

A flash of orange, followed by silvery-blond hair, shot by the window, causing Noah to gasp and fall back. He glared at the door and stood back up, curiously peeking out the window with his gun cocked and ready to go behind the curtain. The blond hair raced by again, this time a cursing redhead following and an albino following them twice as fast.

He watched the three chase each other for a while before the albino grabbed up both the redhead and the blond, taking whatever the other had stolen from them. As he came closer to the door, Noah saw it shine a little. It was the keys to the house.

Noah, quickly opened the door just as the other finally got the keys in the lock. The two stared at each other.

"Um… Uh, well, Hi! My name's-"

"Don't know, don't care. Is my father with you, or did you just happen to stumble upon an exact replica of his key ring."

The redhead smiled an almost proud smile at him from under the other's arm (who was too busy lecturing Noah about how rude he was) before rocking back his foot and kicking the albino in his unmentionables. The man let out a moan of pain and dropped both of the boys before falling flat on his face in pain. The redhead got up, dusted himself off, glared again at the man, then walked across him (literally on top of him) and into the house, ruffling Noah's hair as he passed. The orange-eyed boy squatted next the albino and nervously inquired to his health in a small voice.

Noah stepped over the two and outside, shoving his gun in the band of his jeans and tossing the edge of his tartan button up over it. He looked around his yard, seeing the treehouse his brother, father, and he had made last summer, the rope swing he'd made for his brother the year before, and the above-ground pool they'd saved up for and bought just three months ago. Since then, it had been used a total of three times and was completely filled with gunk. The noise of a departing taxi cab brought his attention to two talking figures.

His Dad and…. someone else.

"Dad?"

Adrian turned to him with a smile and a wave.

"Hey Noah! How's it goin'?"

"Who's that?"

A soft voice filled his mind. _**"You don't recognize me?"**_

Noah turned around. No one was there. When he turned back, his father was laughing into his cigarette and the other man was smiling sweetly.

"Does my eyepatch really make me that unrecognizable?"

Noah squinted at the man. It was indeed his cousin, Matthew A. Williams. His hair was slightly longer, and his skin was slightly darker, but this man was most definitely the same shy man he'd met so many times before. A bright red medical eye patch covered his left eye, two strings tying around his head to keep it there. Noah smiled and walked toward the two, but internally, he noticed something.

Matthew didn't carry himself like he usually did. He didn't shake like he normally did, didn't shuffle about or smile only when he was given a reason to. He didn't hunch over slightly, as he had always done as a result of being a reporter and working late nights on articles. He didn't hold himself like he used to at all.

Instead, he spoke with assurance and took long strides with his much too thin legs. He smiled regularly and stood straight with his shoulders cocked back some, even. His voice was soft, as it always was, but there was something underneath it all. A sort of dark difference, a cloak of mystery over this sudden confidence he seemed to have gained.

Instantly, Noah remembered his father's phone call only a week before, explaining his favored cousin's condition. He had jumped off a bridge to save a fallen man, only to break an arm, gain multiple scars and bruises on his arm from the waters impact, and lose an eye somehow. No one really knew the whole story, only bits and pieces here and there. But the main thing was that he'd lost an eye and broken an arm.

Matthew didn't look broken at all.

Noah was still skeptical, but he decided that maybe saving someone had finally brought out a little bravery or confidence in the thin man. He'd always been so fragile…

Noah hugged his father, exchanged a few words and queries, but then turned to call the other members of the house out.

"Clem! Abbot! Dad's home, and guess who he brought back?"

Before he even finished speaking, his younger brother had dashed past him and at his now alert and surprised father. He jumped into his father's open arms, hugging him and regaling him with tales of movies and late meals that he had missed in his absence. The two seemed to forget Matthew, who stood next to them, smiling a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Noah smiled and walked over to his cousin, arms out as he knew that Matthew quite liked to pick the younger up.

Matthew took notice of the boy, smiling and holding his arms out as he walked towards him. Matthew smiled and met him halfway, though when he got there, he seemed confused as to what his cousin was doing. He frowned for a moment before smiling again and crossing his arms, shaking both of the younger's outstretched hands.

Noah frowned, confused at his cousin's mistaking of his gesture. They had always done that, ever since the latter could walk. Noah put his hands down and decided to just accept it for now. Maybe later he'd ask.

"So Matt, I heard about what happened! Guess this means you're a real hero now, huh?"

Matthew's face contracted into what Noah could only guess was a grimace. "The only hero here is you, kiddo. That is, if you can get to your brother before his little emo group does."

Noah's jaw dropped, completely flabbergasted.

"H-how did you know about-"

Matthew's smile was no longer friendly. It was wild and ravenous, ready to take anyone on and murder them with their own words. Noah grimaced and backed away, but Matthew grabbed his arm, whispering in his ear. "I know a lot about you, Noah Kirkland. I know that you're in a gang - the leader of it, actually. I know that you're constantly worried about being caught by your dad and that your sweet little brother isn't actually as sweet and happy and gullible as he seems. He may wear bright clothes now, but you've seen the way he eyes the black sweaters and coats when you two go shopping. You know about that knife he keeps under his mattress, just like he knows about that little gun you keep in your bag at school, and under your pillow here. Or did you move it again? Wouldn't want Daddy Dearest to catch you with it, hmm?"

Noah shivered and felt his blood run cold. This wasn't Matthew.

Noah jerked away, watching his father from the corner of his eye. He and Abbot were arguing about an old movie he'd enjoyed versus the remake while walking back to the house. They hadn't noticed.

"What are you?"

Matthew's smile widened. "Why? What are you going to do? Tell your father? Shoot me?" He threw his head back and held his stomach as he laughed. "Ridiculous. You wouldn't dare!"

Noah glared. "Try me."

"All right."

Suddenly, Noah felt light-headed as Matthew leaned forward and grabbed his hands, leading him down the stone pathway back to his house.

"_**You wanted to know who I am, correct?"**_

Noah shivered and tried to move away from the man, but he found himself unable to move at all. He was being controlled.

"_**I am Matthew."**_

There was a pause, then a second, ethereal voice filled Noah again.

"_And so am I."_

Noah looked over at Matthew and immediately knew: this was the real Matthew, the one he'd always known. His smile was shaky but real, and his eyes were filled with kindness, and he hunched his back slightly. He began shaking, even worse than usual, but at least Noah knew now. Matthew wasn't just one person. He was two.


	6. Chapter 6 Ego

Chapter 6: Ego (by the Sounds)

Subtitle: In which we learn that Gilbert's middle name is Elliot.

* * *

><p>As the Kirkland family, Matthew, Lovino, Gilbert, and Hugo loaded themselves into the kitchen where a bar was located for extra seating and attached dining room, all eyes were on a gleefully ignorant (or seemingly so) Matthew.<p>

Matthew had been acting weird ever since Gilbert and co. met up together at the airport, and it wasn't only in the way he acted.

Gilbert had always been able to see a faint light around the boy, not black like a devil's but not white like an angel's. Almost… grey. Fitting for such a bright creature to carry such a dull aura. But now, Gilbert couldn't see anything, not a grey or a white, nothing. In fact, the Euphorian was actually becoming quite blurry himself, almost as if he was trying so hard to repress something that he was inadvertently repressing everything. It was amusing for a while, then it was odd. And now it's just suspicious. It was like he was trying to be normal. Natural. Real.

Throughout the entire dinner, everyone seemed to have changed.

Auntie Clementine didn't tease anyone as much as usual and refrained from hugging her favorite nephew, even smiling became eerie, as the smile she got back wasn't faked so much as it wasn't natural. Who could have believed that such a quiet boy could smile so fiercely that the corners literally reached his eyes?

Adrian, well, Adrian didn't eat at all. Instead, he sat in the living room, staring blankly at the TV and trying to recall where he had heard that name from before. Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe… wait…

Hugo ate calmly, talking regularly to anyone who would halfway listen or even attempt to respond. This mostly meant he talked to Matthew or Abbot, as Noah was too busy sending Matthew worried, "we need to talk" glances, Abbot was oblivious (as always), and Gilbert was too busy glaring at Matthew – or what he believed to be a stand-in Matthew. A fraud. Probably Francis; he looked identical to Matthew and was quite skilled in the art of form-stealing. No doubt his people had finally caught on that their beloved reject wasn't going to deliver their precious pawn/weapon/toy-thing back to them. At least, not without a fight first.

When he eventually zoned back in, he noted the way the energetic blonde(s) were in conversation, as if a glee-sucking, body-stealing imposter weren't sitting with them currently, giggling when spoken to and occasionally when not. Gilbert sent Hugo a "you traitor, tell me what you know" look and was rewarded for his efforts by a comforting, "relax" smile and a pat on his hands.

Eventually, when the tension got too thick to ignore but not thick enough to acknowledge, Aunt Clementine left, followed by a reluctant Noah, who also dragged the two blondes away, clearly seeing that the "grown-ups" needed to have a chat more than he did. Before they left, Hugo paused and turned to Matthew.

"Good to see you again, Lord Williams," he said with a warm smile, beaming and smiling and being just all-around happier than Gilbert had ever seen him. Hugo mocked a salute, earning a giggle from Matthew and a teasing, yet somehow serious, "As you were, soldier."

After the trio had left, Gilbert stood and took his plate to the sink.

"Wait!"

Gilbert spun around, expecting the imposter to reveal him or herself or something of the like. "Yes?"

"Can I have that cranberry sauce if you're not gonna eat it? I'll admit, I've only had two servings and I'm already quite fond of the stuff! I must be developing a food crush!" [(A/N): Don't be judgin', you know you've had one before.]

Gilbert grit his teeth and told himself to stay calm and just wait. Maybe if he fed the filthy monster, it would let its guard down and admit to its one touched what belonged to a demon, and Matthew, in his mind, most definitely belonged to one Gilbert E. Beilschemidt.

Gilbert forced a grin on his face and walked back, raking his cranberry sauce onto the others plate before dropping his own into the sink along with his fork, spoon, all his leftover kindness towards this… this… being that has stolen his Matthew from him.

"So, Gilbert, how long have you known I wasn't your Matthew, as you so call him."

Gilbert froze and held his breathe, listening carefully for signs of attack or weapons being drawn or even moving. The only sounds were the TV, the clacking of keyboard keys from the living room (He had to pause and wonder what Adrian was looking up and if it would be of any use to him to go… investigate [aka, snoop]), and the occasional screech of a fork against a plate as Matthew ate his growing mound of sweets.

"A while," he finally replied.

"Matthew" hummed and set down the fork and picked up his plate, taking it to the sink, which Gilbert was currently gripping with all his force in an attempt to not murder the imposter. After washing the plate off and putting it away, he dried his hands on his pants and put a hand on Gilbert's shoulder. "Why don't we go on a walk, eh?"

Gilbert jumped and spun on his heel to face the other, rage making him almost ooze the black, powerful aura that Matthew was so accustomed to. He smacked the other's hand away and formed the blackness into a deathly sharp knife, pressing it to "Matthew's" neck.

"Don't touch me. Only a fool would go for a 'walk' with their enemy."

"Matthew's" smile widened to almost scary proportions, before he brought a hand to his mouth to cover the chuckles, laughs, giggles and snickers his mouth was producing, thoroughly angering and confusing the other. After he managed to calm himself, he pushed the knife away from his throat like one would bat away a fly. As if it meant nothing to have death bleeding at your neck. Gilbert almost smiled. Maybe this "Matthew" and his own weren't as different as he'd originally thought.

"Relax, it's just a walk. Besides, I'm sure you want answers, and I refuse to tell such terrible things in front of such company."

"You will give me answers when I want, where I want." Nevertheless, he grabbed his coat and walked outside, "Matthew" following him out in only a light, red sweater.

* * *

><p>When the two were a suitable distance from the house and any surrounding houses or wandering people, Gilbert brought out his self-created, aurablack matter knife, this time making it slightly bigger and slightly sharper and bringing it slightly closer to the "fake" blonde's throat.

"Who are you, what are you, why are you here, can I kill you without killing him- Gimme answers, now, imposter."

The imposter laughed again, this time putting his hand around the knife and slowly sliding it down. Immediately, red blood sluggishly flowed out. "Matthew" seemed to concentrate extremely hard on this, his ever present smile diminishing to nothing in favor of… what? What was he trying to achieve, cutting himself like that?

Gilbert cursed and ripped off his jacket, tying one sleeve around the wound.

"You idiot, you-"

"Look."

Gilbert flung his head upward at the voice that entered his brain. It sounded exactly like Matthew's only… different. Harsher. More alive. Less innocent. And, for some reason unknown to Gilbert, it was also strangely familiar. Gilbert shook his head and looked down at "Matthew's" hand, where the other was pointing with what might have been his biggest smile yet.

"Matthew's" hand was just as he'd left it, but another hand-another body-layered on top of it-on top of "Matthew" completely. "Matthew" was separating from Matthew's body completely.

Gilbert almost smiled. Finally, he would get some answers. But he didn't because what he saw left him even more confused.

Matthew's body fell to the ground, momentarily empty and in an almost comatose state. Floating above him, black blood dripping from his hand, was…Matthew.

"M-Matthew? You really were – are – Matthew? B-but-"

Matthew tsked and shook his head from side to side, smirking and floating a little higher, crossing his legs and resting midair in a sitting position. "Wrong again, my dear, dead Watson. Think back. Way back. To what I am guessing was your first ever mission on Earth alone. Back when you were still in your father's favor. You'll remember me, won't you? Well, us really. You..," here his eyes softened. "y-you told us we were your first friends…You'll remember us, won't you? For me? For him? For us?"

And suddenly, it hit Gilbert, and boy, did it hit hard. Knocked him right to his knees, then his hands, where he clutched the snow in his hands and tried to prevent the already falling tears. "No… not him… I-it was an accident… I-I didn't mean t-to-", he looked up at the other, whose smile had dissipated for a hard look. "B-but how… you… you both d-died when-"

Matthew's eyes suddenly widened, and he swept through Gilbert. Gilbert turned around, amazed to see the two people he thought he'd never see again-his one and only friends. Matthew and Matthew Williams, or as they'd gone by back then, Andy and Drei Pierce. Of course, these had just been shortened versions of the name they both shared; Andrei Pierce. They had had black hair back then, but it was still just as curly then as it was now. They had all been young, too young to be fooling around with potions and books, both human and Hadesian.

But what could be done? Gilbert, back then known as Luchesi, or Lonnie, had fallen in love with both of them as soon as they'd met and had been determined to help the two. Because Andy and Drei Pierce had a secret, just like he did. A last name wasn't the only thing they shared. They were actually the same person, with the same brain and the same thoughts, just in two bodies. Gilbert had known then too that there was something special about them. They didn't glow like the other humans did, as a grey, murky mess of good and bad aura. Andy shone a bluish white (like an angel, but he strangely didn't seem to fit the description for one), and was dreadfully quiet and shy and delicate, yet snarky sometimes. Drei, on the other hand, had an aura similar, if not darker than his own, showing him to be a demon, but Gilbert didn't recognize him as one of his own. Drei was brave and blunt and protective and possessive of his sibling, though had an annoying habit of being extremely cold to anyone he didn't know well.

They had found what they were looking for within a year. A mixing spell, not for potions, but for souls. One touch, a few thought transmissions, and just one spoken word and then Drei and Andy could be one person, Andrei Pierce.

But… something had gone wrong. Someone had said a wrong word or maybe their intertwined hands had somehow slipped… Gilbert didn't remember. All he remembered was the screaming, the blood, and the hideous, scarred body that he'd created. Eyes on necks, arms coming out of a stomach, and blood, blood, blood. It was disgusting, but even worse were the thoughts being transmitted to him faster than he could ever catch them completely. But he got the general message, oh he got it all right. It had never left his head, or his dreams for that matter.

"You fool! You split us! You broke us! YOU BROKE US!"

He ran away from the empty lot they had chosen to complete the ritual.

He had ripped one soul, one brain, one boy, in two. Sure, he was now in one body, no matter how deformed it was, but now there was two Andrei Pierces for real. Two Matthew Williams.

And now, those same two souls huddled together, the more mothering (and ghostly at the moment) one of the two, humming a nursery rhyme to the other, occasionally muttering reassurances to the sleeping, angelic Matthew who was whimpering and crying in his slumber.

Ghostly Matthew glared over at him, but the glare was quickly wiped away by the look on Gilbert's face, a mix between pure agony and sorrow, and pity. Instead, that same cold indifference Drei had shown to him when they'd first met appeared on his face.

"Gilbert Elliot Beilschmidt, you have wronged the middle landlords of Euphoria. Now you must correct it."

He slowly stood up, cradling his other half in his arms like a mother would her child. The black aura so like his own, so familiar, grew stronger around him, and it encased the both of them, growing into a multitude of blade-like branches, which shot out and tangled around him, pinning him to the ground (in quite an awkward position due to the fact that he was still on his knees). He shook with terror as the knife-like ends to the branches poised above his neck, forehead, belly, and nether regions, threatening to run him through and gut him like a Christmas turkey with only one simple command.

He closed his eyes, a drop of sweat running from his hair line, down his face, and off his chin, dripping to the bloodstained (not his blood, but Matthew's, both red and black blood seeped through the white powder) snow below.

He waited, expecting the piercing stab of the needle sharp branches, killing both his body and himself. It vaguely occurred to him to wonder where he'd go if he did die, considering he couldn't go to Hades, and he surely wouldn't be allowed to go to The Fate's kingdom. Maybe…

But those thoughts were cut off by footsteps making their way over to Gilbert. He opened his eyes cautiously, only to come face-to-face with the Matthews, both of them awake this time. The previously sleeping Matthew smiled sleepily at him and waved, while the other was smirking and grabbing his chin.

"Don't worry, pet. This shouldn't be too hard for you. In fact, it might even be beneficial for you."

"R-really now?" Gilbert said with a hint of a smile, one branch coming a bit too close and making a small cut on his cheek.

"Yep! All you have to do is finish what you started," said the yawning Matthew, and Gilbert felt the black matter in his veins freeze.

"We were once one, and you split us apart. Now you will put us back together, or I will kill you. And if you succeed," they said at the same time, "I will allow you and Lovino to live as guests in my kingdom, where no one can reach you without causing a war."

Matthew stood back up and retracted the blades, letting go of Matthew with one hand to extend it to Gilbert with a smile. "Deal?"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at the Kirkland Residence:<p>

Adrian tried not to panic, looking at The Times, The Gazette, any and every online newspaper he could get his hands on. He finally found one addressed to go out tomorrow about the world events going on recently.

Drat. It wasn't there.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He grabbed the TV remote and changed the channel to one of the news stations. Immediately, he got what he was looking for.

On the telly, a news reporter showed security footage of a woman getting off of a plane – his plane – running around frantically, asking where everyone was and then why she couldn't see them. Then, the tape frizzed up and she fell to her knees, blood dripping out of the corner of her mouth. She coughed several times and asked, begged for help, but she wouldn't let the police near her, swatting them away at the same time she pleaded with them to come closer. Eventually, she fell down completely, dying of what appeared to be severe hemorrhaging from the inside,and blood loss, as was later revealed in an autopsy. They then showed a picture of her driver's license, identifying her to be Phoebe Louise Quentin.

And hadn't Matthew been telling him about a girl he'd met on the train by the name of Phoebe?

Adrian had to be sure. He rewound the scene (for once very thankful that he'd paid thew extra money for Freesat+) to where it showed the girl getting off the plane. He leaned in and tried to see what section of the plane. After a while, it switched to a view of the whole plane. Adrian paused it and smirked. How convenient.

After a few minutes of scanning and rewinding to look at both images, he finally managed to figure out that she did indeed come out of Matthew's section, section B.

Matthew wouldn't… murder someone, would he?

Adrian quickly shook his head. Of course not. Matthew was a sweet, shy boy who probably hadn't even seen her after initially meeting her in his seat. And besides, there were plenty of other people on the plane, plenty of other suspe-

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Adrian that stopped him in his tracks and turned him pale, cold, and shaking.

Hadn't Matthew been wearing white when he entered the plane?

* * *

><p>(AN): Okay, so, that was confusing, even for me. AND I WAS WRITING IT! But yes, if all this goes in one ear and out the other, completely making no sense to you, don't be shy! Comment with a polite, "What the crap were you thinking, this is completely unreadable! GRAAHHH! FANRAGE!", and I will politely tell you to chill your beans and explain what the heck I MEANT to say with this….which will likely make just as much sense as it does now :L Sorry.

Anyway! Guess what time it is? (It's actually 3:00 am, but that's beside the point) IT'S EXCUSES TIME! See, why I have totally neglected you poor babies YET AGAIN is that I had semester tests, and then I had to go to Gramma's for a week 'cuz Mom and Dad have finally decided to go on that honeymoon, then it was Christmas and now we're at where we are now! So if you wanna comment with some "You suck as a writer cuz you're slow and ADHD," I will kindly reply with, "Yes. Yes I am." And that will be the end of that. But, just so you know, I have NEVER received a rude or mean comment. You Hetalia Fanfiction Readers must be THE nicest people on here, I swear…

OH, and I apologize if I didn't respond to your comment, it's just that I was super busy and people kept saying the same thing over and over, like, "what in the name of flying sprinkled donuts is going on? Mattie's possessed? And what about Noah and his gang?" Strangely, no one said anything about Phoebe… (*cough*forgottomentionshe'sSeychelles*cough*)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chappie, can't wait to see you next time around.

REVIEWS FEED MY NEED TO BREED NEW STORIES FOR THEE~ Also, when and if you do review, I would like to know

a) how many male readers there are (I just assume everyone here is female *derp* Probably none anyways)

b) what you got for christmas/your favorite present

(I'll tell you mine: I this AWE-MAZING Gir hoodie [from Invader Zim, dontcha know?], Anya's Ghost, Johnny Wander #1 and #2, and some Boston Baked Beans. I got more than that, but that's probably my favorite :P)

and c) what you think about this chapter, duh~!

With love,


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